At first, they might look like something you would buy in a toy shop with their spinning propellers and battery packs.

But in reality Cumbria police's new drones are helping them with some of their toughest assignments.

Although ethical concerns such as invasion of privacy have been raised, Chief Inspector Matt Kennerley explains that from a force perspective they are economical and enable officers to work more safely.

He says: "They're starting to find their place.

"Primarily we look at these for missing person searches where the only other option is lots of cops so we looked at what technology can bring.

"For a place the size of Curwen Park in Workington it can take two officers 25 minutes to look for a missing person as opposed to 20 officers.

"But we have found more uses for them such as road traffic collisions and we can assess them more quickly.

"We can find missing persons more quickly, we can keep roads closed for less time and not put staff at risk around cliffs and coastal areas."

Freedom of Information requests to other forces in the country have discovered that a police helicopter can cost £1,600 an hour to run.

This is only slightly less than the cost of one drone which is around £2,000 and they are fitted with a rotating camera which can capture clear video as well as a compact battery pack.

They are remote-controlled and have a tablet attached so the user can see where it is and the distance covered.

Police drones can last up to 20 minutes in the air although they can only be flown as high as 400ft and not within 150 metres of a congested area.

Ch Insp Kennerley has also found other effective uses for them.

He adds: "It's a good use of police resources. In the case of anyone missing, there are areas where we need a drone and we can use these resources without putting people at risk. 

"We can also use them in areas where a weapon is believed to be up on a rooftop.

"It's usually difficult to cover a building, but we used one and did it in only five minutes. 

"They're also useful for health and safety investigations. It's really difficult for investigators to get up and they can be used for that."

Video captured by them can also be presented as evidence in court and the drone can even survive light gusts of wind.

Spare and replacement parts are also readily available and filmmakers are also using them in their productions.

Ch Insp Kennerley says that they are here to stay.

He says: "It's still a test project for us, but now we can train 12 pilots.

"The technology has developed around this. We have seen ones with thermal cameras on and we can move forward as technology grows.

"As technology has advanced, effectiveness has increased and there's certainly an option to invest in more."