A missing child was located by a police drone on Thursday – the latest missing person to be found using the new tool.

A vulnerable 10-year-old boy was reported missing in Bull Farm, Mansfield, on Thursday evening after a family arguement, and had fled his house without any shoes on. Officers on the ground were unable to locate him, so a drone was launched to search from the skies.

Aided by a clear description of what the boy was wearing, the drone pilot was able to locate him using its zoom capability. By using this feature the pilot was able to see a vast area and spot him, wearing only socks and appearing to hide in a street.

The boy was unharmed and was later returned home.

Nottinghamshire Police’s Drones Unit was launched in January and is made up of three high-tech drones and 15 police officers who – in addition to their other duties – have been trained to fly them. Based at Hucknall Police station, the team are on duty 24/7 and can be called to assist in any incident across the county.

Pc Vince Saunders, Nottinghamshire Police’s chief drone pilot, said: “Our drones are particularly useful for finding missing people because they can search a very large area in a relatively short space of time.

“They can also use their thermal imaging cameras to find people hidden by trees or by darkness. Results like this really show the value of our drones and also serve as a timely reminded why we’ve invested such a lot of time and money to get them off the ground.

“It was a fairly quick end to the incident which could have continued for a significant period of time, which prevented an unnecessary callout to the police helicopter.”

Since it was launched in January the drones team has helped in 44 arrests and also helped to locate 10 high-risk missing people.