New drone owners urged to read the rules before first flight

New drone owners have been warned about the risk of flying the devices as soon as they unwrap them this Christmas. Police and aviation authorities urged users to read up on strict rules about the remote-controlled gadgets before taking them for their first spin. Those caught flying drones dangerously face an unlimited fine and up to five years in prison. Last week the government announced plans to introduce a series of measures to crack down on reckless drone users following a string of near-misses with aircraft. In November the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) launched a website to publish its revised code of conduct for drone users, labelled the dronecode.