THE UK Government is “complacent” over the potential threat posed by drones, Newport MP Paul Flynn has claimed.

His warning came after details emerged of a near miss between a drone and an airliner near Heathrow Airport in February.

Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, April 28 the long-serving Labour MP said he was concerned not only about the risk posed by careless users, but also their potential use by criminals or terrorists.

“Should not the government heed the warning of Heathrow and, instead of taking their rather complacent position, realise not only the potential for catastrophes as a result of vandals or careless people using drones, but the dreadful possibility of terrorists using drones against stores of flammable material or nuclear power stations?” he said.

Pointing to reports of drones being used to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into HMP Wandsworth in London, Mr Flynn added: “Should not the government wake up and realise that this new menace is a potential great threat and take precautions to reduce universal access to drones?”

But, saying "drones have great potential, but it is important that they are used safely", transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin denied the government was “complacent” about the issue.

“There is a prison sentence available and obviously I will keep the situation under review”, he said. “It is also important to find out the facts behind certain incidents.

“It is now thought that the incident reported on April 17 was not a drone incident.”

A report published this week by the UK Airprox Board said the co-pilot of an Airbus A320 reported a drone with a red flashing light had passed within 100ft of the plane shortly after take-off on Valentine’s Day, February 14.

Investigators said “chance had played a major part” in there being no collision.

And in another incident on Sunday, April 17, the pilot of a British Airways flight reported a suspected collision with a drone as it approached Heathrow. But an investigation was unable to determine whether a drone had been involved.

The latest UK Airpox Board bulletin also revealed there had been a near-miss between a drone and two military Tornado jets over Dunbar in Scotland on Thursday, January 21.

Endangering an aircraft by using a drone can carry a prison sentence of up to five years.