The government is testing the use of drones to deliver medical supplies and equipment during the coronavirus crisis, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced.
The trial will begin next week, and drones will carry supplies from the mainland to St Mary’s Hospital on the Isle Of Wight.
The government awarded £8m earlier this year to Southampton and Portsmouth councils to test drones to deliver goods, and it’s this scheme that will be used to test the delivery of medical supplies.
The news came as Shapps announced a series of measures designed to shore up rail, freight and ferry links in and out of the UK.
The government has secured a trilateral agreement with the governments of France and Ireland to ensure services keep running on key freight routes, he said. The government is also committing up to £17m to protect ferry routes between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and £10.5m to support links to both the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly.
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