Plans have been announced to tackle the threat drones pose to prison security.

The flying remote-controlled devices have been used to get items such as mobile phones and drugs past security by flying them over the walls.

A specialist squad is being set up to deal with the problem by inspecting and recovering drones from within prison walls and finding out who’s responsible for flying them and any attached contraband.

The crackdown follows a number of convictions including that of 37-year-old London resident Daniel Kelly, who was found with a drone on Sheppey after he admitted trying to fly it into Elmley and Swaleside prisons in Eastchurch, alongside two others.

He was jailed for 14 months.

Sam Gyimah, prisons minister, said: “We are absolutely determined to tackle the illegal flow of drugs and mobile phones into our prisons and turn them into places of safety and reform.

“The threat posed by drones is clear, but our dedicated staff are committed to winning the fight against those who are attempting to thwart progress by wreaking havoc in establishments all over the country.

“My message to those who involve themselves in this type of criminal activity is clear; we will find you and put you behind bars.”

It is hoped the new efforts will disrupt the flow of drugs and mobile phone into the institutions.

The announcement comes after two people were handed the longest sentence of this type on Friday, March 31.

Remo White-Channer and Romaine Gayle were jailed for six-and-a-half years and four years and four months respectively for their efforts to get almost £50,000 of contraband into prisons across three counties including Kent.