An airport which shut down amid reports of a drone in restricted airspace has since said it did not find a drone.
Gatwick Airport, which has hundreds of flights take off every day, ground to a halt on Sunday afternoon as flights were diverted following the sighting of what was believed to be a drone.
But following the incident, the international airport said it did not find any evidence of an unmanned vehicle. Some twelve flights were diverted to Stansted, Southend, Luton, Heathrow and Bristol as a result of the incident.
High-tech sensors were installed at the airport to search for the drone, such as the Blighter Anti-UAS defence system (pictured below).
The technology, aimed at militaries, can detect drones in a range of weather conditions and distances, and intercept the radio signals to "defeat" it, the manufacturer said.
A spokesman for Gatwick Airport said:"Passenger safety is the airport's absolute priority and, following established procedures, operations at London Gatwick were suspended temporarily at 13:44, while investigations into the sighting of a suspected drone close to the airfield took place.
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"This investigation followed sightings from a pilot and also airfield staff about a suspected drone close to the flight path of approaching aircraft."
A police helicopter also circled the airport for the duration of the incident.
Drone pilots are not allowed to fly their drones within 5km of any UK airport or above 400ft in the air.
The spokesman added: "Following further investigation, no drone was found and the airfield reopened at 14:35."
Between December 19 and 21, 2018, hundreds of flights were cancelled and hundreds of thousands of passengers delayed at Gatwick due to drone suspected sightings close to the runway.
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