Maybe I should have known better, but I was an Aussie traveling in Britain with my trusty
M2P and wanted to get a shot of Stonehenge. I went out the preceding day to check it out and there were thousands of people everywhere. I wanted an early morning shot with long shadows so returned the next morning to the place I'd identified as a good launching spot, with a good view of any people or other problems.
I went at 5.30am and there was no-one around and no-one near the Henge so I launched the Mavic and did some shots. Now at no time did I fly over the stones, nor did I fly anywhere near people (there was no-one there except a couple of security guards). The weather was overcast so I had to forget about long shadows but about 10 minutes into the flight a car pulled up with a security guard inside. I made no attempt to hide what I was doing and he got out of his car and told me in no uncertain terms to get the drone away from over the stones.
I politely pointed out that at no time was I ever over, or near the stones and that I didn't fly over people. I also pointed out there were no signs prohibiting flights. He took exception to this and said the site was National Trust run and flying over National Trust land is illegal. At this point he threatened to arrest me. I hit the return to home button setting things in motion and apologised for my transgression. He waited until the Mavic returned then told me to leave the area immediately. I did as he said but I don't believe he had the authority to move me from a public road, especially as there were at least a dozen camper vans parked in the lane nearby. Anyway I did manage to get a few shots...
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He can't arrest you and has no power to. From the description you also broke no law.
Unfortunately you came across national trust - an utterly vile organisation particularly in their policy to photography, photographers rights, drones and so on.
National trust bans all drone use *from their land*. That means you cannot take off, land or operate from it. Although they claim otherwise and the rent-a-mob security claim otherwise they cannot prevent overflight. They make this claim on their website as well but it simply isnt legally correct or valid and this has been confirmed by the CAA previously.
They claim "by laws" but when queried by FOIA the only bylaw yielded operation of model aircraft from their property in a law dating back to the 60s. With a maximum sanction of £20.
So the worst that could happen is (i) they ask you to leave their land and in theory issue a £20 fine.
They have no power of arrest and absolutely no power to do anything at all not on their property and to do so is probably illegal.
Are you *sure* you were on public land and not national trust land? This horrific organisation specialises in buying up vast areas of land in the UK including most of its coastline so its not always clear.
They also own car parks.
If you are certain you weren't on their land its worth lodging a complaint (although NT will ignore it, they want people to think overflight is illegal). If it was a private security guard they have an agency watchdog to complain to.
Provided you were obeying all the rules of the air navigation order there is absolutely nothing illegal about overflight. And in any case thats a police matter NOT a security guard matter.
Did he actually use the word arrest? If so that is a big overreach and id possibly be thinking of putting a police complaint in there - civilians going around pretending to have powers of arrest in public places is frowned upon....
A few things to be aware of - the ANO makes it sometimes difficult to fly from public roads due to the 50m from people and property at all times even during takeoff and landing.
Be a little careful flying around that area as you're very close to the Boscombe restricted flight zone which begins a few hundred metres to the east of Stonehenge.
I assume youre using the NATs drone assist app which is the *only* app with accurate UK no fly zones currently (definitely not DJIs built in!). See attached screenshot to how close it is to the ATZ
So in summary:
(i) If you were on public land (check this...) the rent-a-mob has no authority to move you on from the area. He also has no power to arrest on public OR EVEN HIS OWN private land. None at all. Claiming to do so is an offence.
(ii) National trust is an abhorrent body.
(iii) National trust cannot deny overflight of lands provided the ANO is followed despite their claims
(iv) National trust is an abhorrent body
(v) If there were any violations of the ANO (distance from the public, no fly zones etc) then thats a matter for the police and the rent-a-mob guy has no authority what-so-ever over it. If he claims thats been violated he has to alert the police and cant do anything himself.
(vi) National trust is an abhorrent body
You'll come across the NT heavies a lot in the UK due to overreach and the way they've somehow managed to acquire large areas of the UK national parks and coastlines.
Ultimately to operate the drone (OR a camera commercially!) with them you just need to be aware of where you are regarding their land boundaries, the air navigation order drone rules and be polite but firm if the heavy mob turn up. Id suggest recording the exchange. They try to work by intimidation and rely on people not knowing the actual laws.
IF you are unsure where their land is ask the security politely where their land boundary ends and move just outside that area.
Shows NT claims around the area so you can see where you can fly.
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