MILLIONS of pounds are up for grabs as part of a competition for anyone who can put a stop to drones at airports.

In December last year the flights of about 140,000 people were cancelled at Gatwick Airport after drones were seen near the runway.

Now the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is hosting a competition to find a solution to the “risks posed by unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)”.

The prize fund for the competition is £2 million.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “As the security threats from hostile drones are evolving at pace it’s critical that our Armed Forces benefit from the very latest technology to stay ahead.

“This competition will draw on the brightest and best of our defence industry to find innovative solutions that will ensure we are protected in the years to come.”

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory detailed what it was looking for in the competition.

The organisation’s principal engineer David Lugton said: “We’d be interested in those which can detect and track multiple threats simultaneously, with minimal human oversight, and against a broad spectrum of UAS types.

“We’re also interested in

Counter-Unmanned Air Systems which can overcome the challenges posed by line of sight blockages, collateral, and ones which can link systems together to improve understanding of the local “drone air picture.”