Dramatic moment drone discovers man missing overnight on marshes

Dramatic pictures released by police show the moment a drone spotted a man who'd been missing on the Norfolk coast for nearly 24 hours.

Police say without the drone they might not have spotted him.

Peter Pugh, who's 75 and from Brancaster, had been walking with friends and family on Saturday 16 June when he became separated from them just after 5pm.

Police and coastguards searched all night, together with the Hunstanton and Wells Inshore Lifeboat and Norfolk Lowland and Search Service.

At approximately 2.35pm on Sunday the Norfolk Police drone, being piloted by Sergeant Danny Leach, spotted Peter stuck in very dense reed beds and marshland at Titchwell.

Sgt Leach was then able to guide a team from HM Coastguard and Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service to him.

The team pulled Peter from a deep muddy creek before providing first aid until the Coastguard rescue helicopter arrived to winch him out.

Peter was taken by air ambulance to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kings Lynn where he is being treated for hypothermia.

Fifty people were involved in the search.

Norfolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner Lorne Green said drones were a vital tool.