Amazon seeks to expand UK drone deliveries
The US company now wants to deliver to the whole of Darlington after launching a smaller service.
Amazon aims to broaden UK drone deliveries
Amazon is looking to extend its drone delivery trial so it covers all of Darlington.
The retail giant has submitted an application to widen its drone delivery service to the entire town where it has been testing the technology.
The US firm said last January that Darlington would serve as its UK test centre, the first time Prime Air had operated outside the USA.
It began a "limited" number of flights in Febraury, enabling customers within a 7.5 mile radius of its County Durham site to have selected items delivered by drone.
Following more than 500 flights and deliveries, the company said it is now seeking approval from the Civil Aviation Authority to operate across all of Darlington.
Prime Air vice president David Carbon said Amazon expected to receive permission "very soon", with the long-term goal of expanding the service across the whole of the UK.
Customers in Darlington who qualify can currently get their items within two hours, provided they have a garden, yard, or driveway, the parcel weighs under 5lb and it fits in a large shoebox.
Staff at the site said their fastest delivery so far has been 39 minutes.
David Carbon said the drones help reduce congestion.
Carbon said the drones help keep "people off the road".
"There's lots of advantages that come with the drone, but most importantly for our customers, we've never had a customer say 'send my package slower'. Speed is always critical."
He acknowledged there had been "some incidents" but said "its not a percentage that is high at all".
An investigation was opened in July after a drone crashed into a garden in Darlington.
The company said no-one was injured and its initial assessment was that an object extending above the roof of a moving vehicle came into contact with the drone.
A spokesperson said "the drone responded as designed and came safely to the ground".