The council is considering spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on drones in a bid to “embrace modern technology”.

Harrow Council has earmarked £400,000 as part of its most recent budget for the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to “support a range of council services and activities”.

Currently there are no firm plans to buy any drones, but the idea of using them to streamline operations and save money is on the council’s radar.

Neighbouring Brent Council currently makes use of a UAV to highlight certain projects in the borough and survey council buildings.

This latter programme, which would improve building repairs and make them more cost-effective, has been suggested as a possibility for Harrow.

Cllr Adam Swersky, responsible for finance at Harrow Council, said: “This is an opportunity for an initiative that will take the council into very innovative territory.

“It would be very positive for many of the teams in our council but would also provide services for residents as well.”

It came after he was questioned by Cllr Pritesh Patel about whether it was wise to borrow money for such a scheme.

Cllr Swersky explained that the council had made sure that the costs could be covered by revenue collected elsewhere and that any drone programme would be subject to a thorough business case assessment.

He added that the council would “abide by all regulations” put forward by nearby airports following the incident at Gatwick Airport in December last year.