125 UK Towns Are Inside a Drone Flight Restriction Zone
We tested the centre point of 1,971 UK cities, towns and large villages against the official NATS Flight Restriction Zone dataset. 125 of them — home to more than 2.0 million people — sit inside an FRZ, where flying a drone of any size without permission from the aerodrome operator is a criminal offence under Article 94A of the Air Navigation Order 2016. The list includes zones most residents have never heard of, including restriction zones around prisons.
Every town and city inside an FRZ
| Place | Region | Flight Restriction Zone | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luton | England | London Luton | 203,200 |
| Southend-on-Sea | England | Southend | 183,125 |
| Dundee | Scotland | Dundee | 147,345 |
| Cambridge | England | Cambridge | 145,000 |
| Maidstone | England | HMP Maidstone | 113,137 |
| Crawley | England | London Gatwick | 112,448 |
| High Wycombe | England | Wycombe Air Park/booker RWY 24G | 92,000 |
| Bedford | England | HMP Bedford | 80,000 |
| Chatham | England | Rochester RWY 20L | 76,983 |
| Paisley | Scotland | Glasgow | 75,000 |
| Woolwich | England | London City | 71,526 |
| Cumbernauld | Scotland | Cumbernauld | 52,270 |
| Yeovil | England | Yeovil/westland | 46,000 |
| Durham | England | HMP Durham | 42,100 |
| Dover | England | Port Of Dover | 34,087 |
| Northolt | England | Northolt | 30,304 |
| Clydebank | Scotland | Glasgow | 26,640 |
| Chichester | England | Chichester/goodwood | 23,700 |
| Formby | England | Woodvale | 22,886 |
| Guiseley | England | Leeds Bradford | 22,347 |
| Penzance | England | Penzance | 21,200 |
| Caterham | England | Kenley | 21,030 |
| Halewood | England | Liverpool | 20,116 |
| Irlam | England | Manchester Barton | 19,933 |
| Stamford | England | Wittering | 19,701 |
| Redhill | England | Redhill | 18,163 |
| Erskine | Scotland | Glasgow | 15,347 |
| Haverfordwest | Wales | Haverfordwest | 14,600 |
| Llantwit Major | Wales | St Athan | 14,384 |
| Stubbington | England | Lee-on-solent | 14,317 |
| Kidlington | England | Oxford | 13,700 |
| Chalfont St Peter | England | Denham | 12,766 |
| Helston | England | Culdrose | 11,178 |
| Sandy | England | Old Warden RWY 21 | 10,887 |
| Hale Barns | England | Manchester | 9,736 |
| Stansted Mountfitchet | England | London Stansted | 8,691 |
| Radlett | England | Elstree | 8,042 |
| Gerrards Cross | England | Denham | 8,017 |
| Lossiemouth | Scotland | Lossiemouth | 7,610 |
| Wick | Scotland | Wick | 6,820 |
| Waddington | England | Waddington | 6,112 |
| Easton | England | Portland Frz | 6,069 |
| Stoke Mandeville | England | Halton | 5,825 |
| Kirkliston | Scotland | Edinburgh | 5,280 |
| Elstree | England | Elstree | 5,110 |
| Scone | Scotland | Perth/scone | 5,080 |
| Fulbourn | England | Cambridge | 4,850 |
| St Just | England | Land's End | 4,812 |
| Stornoway | Scotland | Stornoway | 4,578 |
| Bedale | England | Leeming | 4,530 |
| Campbeltown | Scotland | Campbeltown RWY 29 | 4,500 |
| Eglinton | N. Ireland | Londonderry/eglinton | 3,650 |
| Garelochhead | Scotland | Nsa Hmnb Clyde | 3,560 |
| Bramhope | England | Leeds Bradford | 3,400 |
| Headcorn | England | Lashenden/headcorn | 3,387 |
| Lydd | England | Lydd | 3,329 |
| Leuchars | Scotland | Leuchars | 3,060 |
| Hatton | England | Derby RWY 10 | 2,690 |
| Aberporth | Wales | West Wales/aberporth | 2,374 |
| Banknock | Scotland | Cumbernauld | 2,371 |
| Valley | Wales | Valley | 2,361 |
| Chigwell Row | England | Stapleford RWY 03R | 2,243 |
| Duxford | England | Duxford | 1,920 |
| Invergowrie | Scotland | Dundee | 1,744 |
| Hugh Town | England | Scilly Isles/st Mary's | 1,100 |
| Aldershot | England | Farnborough | — |
| Amesbury | England | Boscombe | — |
| Attleborough | England | Old Buckenham | — |
| Barrow-in-Furness | England | Walney | — |
| Biggin Hill | England | Biggin Hill | — |
| Borehamwood | England | Elstree | — |
| Bracebridge | England | Waddington | — |
| Bushey | England | Elstree | — |
| Carterton | England | Brize Norton | — |
| Castle Donington | England | East Midlands | — |
| Chandler's Ford | England | Southampton | — |
| Chelmsley Wood | England | Birmingham | — |
| Coningsby | England | Coningsby | — |
| Cotgrave | England | Nottingham | — |
| Coulsdon | England | Kenley | — |
| Cranbrook | England | Exeter | — |
| Crumlin | N. Ireland | Belfast Aldergrove | — |
| East Ham | England | London City | — |
| Eastleigh | England | Southampton | — |
| Fairford | England | Fairford | — |
| Fareham | England | Fleetlands | — |
| Farnborough | England | Farnborough | — |
| Ferndown | England | Bournemouth | — |
| Fleet | England | Farnborough | — |
| Holywood | N. Ireland | Belfast/city | — |
| Horley | England | London Gatwick | — |
| Horsforth | England | Leeds Bradford | — |
| Ilminster | England | Merryfield | — |
| Kirkham | England | Warton | — |
| Lakenheath | England | Lakenheath | — |
| Leigh on Sea | England | Southend | — |
| Linwood | Scotland | Glasgow | — |
| Lytham St Annes | England | Blackpool | — |
| Marazion | England | Penzance | — |
| Market Drayton | England | Ternhill RWY 22 | — |
| Mildenhall | England | Mildenhall | — |
| New Romney | England | Lydd | — |
| Newtownards | N. Ireland | Newtownards | — |
| Oadby | England | Leicester | — |
| Ponteland | England | Newcastle | — |
| Porthleven | England | Culdrose | — |
| Prestwick | Scotland | Prestwick | — |
| Renfrew | Scotland | Glasgow | — |
| Rochford | England | Southend | — |
| Ruislip | England | Northolt | — |
| Sherburn in Elmet | England | Sherburn-in-elmet | — |
| Shoreham-by-Sea | England | Shoreham | — |
| St Columb Major | England | Newquay | — |
| Wallingford | England | Benson | — |
| Warlingham | England | Kenley | — |
| Wellesbourne | England | Wellesbourne Mountford | — |
| Welshpool | Wales | Welshpool | — |
| Wendover | England | Halton | — |
| Wilmslow | England | Manchester | — |
| Woking | England | Fairoaks | — |
| Woodstock | England | Oxford | — |
| Worsley | England | Manchester Barton | — |
| Wythenshawe | England | Manchester | — |
| Yateley | England | Blackbushe | — |
| Yeadon | England | Leeds Bradford | — |
Methodology
FRZ boundaries are the official NATS dataset (817 zone polygons, including runway protection segments). Place centre points come from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), merged with a curated list of major cities. A place is counted when its centre point falls inside any FRZ polygon — parts of many more towns overlap an FRZ without their centre doing so, so this count is conservative. Populations are OSM-reported values where available. Footprint area is the union of all FRZ polygons. Computed 12 June 2026; data and code are public on GitHub.
This page is a planning reference, not legal advice — always verify against the official NATS UK AIS before flying. More on our data and methods on the About page.