The technology has been developed by Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association (LDSAMRA).

It involves drones taking multiple photographs as they fly over an area of ground.

LDSAMRA said each image is overlapped, so objects that cannot be seen from one angle, can be spotted from another.

After the drone lands, the photographs are analysed by software which searches each image for unusually coloured clusters of pixels in a natural landscape.

These anomalies are then viewed by search teams to determine if any objects require further investigation.