WILTSHIRE Police used a drone to help save the life of a 83-year-old woman with dementia who had been missing for more than five hours.

The police drone was deployed to Corsham last weekend to assist officers following the report of the woman missing late in the evening.

Believing that she was at a high and potentially immediate risk of harm, they called on specially-trained police search officers and volunteers to assist in searching a wooded area near to where she was last seen.

They included police dog handlers, the National Police Air Service (NPAS) helicopter and Wiltshire Search and Rescue (WILSAR).

The police drone was dispatched and also arrived at the scene around 30 minutes later.

The drone is equipped with a thermal imaging camera which can be viewed live by officers on the ground to help them search large areas quickly.

Within an hour, the drone located a heat source on the edge of a wooded area and on closer inspection, the outline of a person laying on the ground could be seen.

The drone hovered over the area directly above to guide the officers on the ground, and the woman was rescued.

She had been outside for more than five hours and was suffering with exhaustion and pain as a result of the cold weather.

Special Inspector Guy Sanders, operational manager for the Unmanned Aviation Support Group (UASG) and remote pilot in command of the operation, said:

"At around 8.45pm I was called to assist community officers search a wooded area for an 83-year-old woman suffering dementia and having been missing for several hours.

"Obviously, due to her age, the illness and the dropping temperatures in the evening we were all really worried about her.

"Luckily, the drone is able to cover huge areas, and the thermal camera picks up heat sources enabling us to clear the 'cold areas' quickly so we can focus on heat detail. I'm really glad we found her when we did."

Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson said: "Once again this new technology has saved the life of a vulnerable member of our community by getting out there, getting up there and getting the job done quickly.

"I am really proud of our Special Constabulary volunteers who give up their free time to do this.

"I'm committed to ensuring that Wiltshire remains at the forefront of technology to find new and better ways to protect our communities."