Daily update, 5 October: RAF Fairford restriction, drones at HMP Highpoint, Lancashire wildfire drones

An emergency restriction at RAF Fairford

This morning's story covered The Air Navigation (Restriction of Flying) (RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire) (Emergency) Regulations 2026, in force since 3.30pm on 30 September 2026. The regulations say "No aircraft is to fly below Flight Level 95" within a radius of 5 nautical miles of RAF Fairford, and they "do not apply to any aircraft flying in accordance with directions given by the Royal Air Force Brize Norton Air Traffic Control Unit."

The regulations give no end date, and at the time of writing legislation.gov.uk lists no revocation. The full piece is on our news page.

Drones at HMP Highpoint

HM Inspectorate of Prisons published its report on HMP Highpoint today, following an unannounced inspection from 29 June to 16 July 2026. The report describes Highpoint as "a men’s category C training and resettlement prison in Suffolk that held around 1,100 prisoners at the time of this inspection."

It says "We found a prison that continued to be generally well run by the experienced governor and his team." It adds: "However, there were some serious challenges that will need to be addressed by both the prison and HMPPS. The most important of these is the ingress of contraband, often delivered by drones into this large, open site."

The report continues: "There had also been a failure by the prison service to reduce the site’s susceptibility to drones. Many windows were vulnerable and prisoners had cut holes in the grilles to allow them to fish for the often-large packages that were being dropped off at the site."

It also records that "Leaders understood sources of ingress for illicit items, including the threat posed by drones, and had taken some steps to improve physical security: damaged window grilles had been repaired, a new enhanced gate security had opened on the south site and funding had been allocated for window grilles on the north site."

The report says that, with the population due to grow, "the prison service must do more to reduce Highpoint’s vulnerability to drones".

Heavy-lift wildfire drones in Lancashire

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service said today that it "is developing a groundbreaking Heavy Lift Drone capability that could transform how wildfires are tackled across Lancashire and beyond." The service says "The project is funded through the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)".

According to the service, "This includes evaluating whether one drone can spray water directly onto a fire from the air, while others carry heavy loads such as equipment, water and essential supplies across challenging terrain." It says "Recent demonstrations have showcased the drones' ability to carry out water spray, water drop and heavy-lift logistics operations."

Tim Murrell, Drone Manager at Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and project lead, said: "We are still in the testing and evaluation phase, but the results so far have been extremely encouraging."