It won’t be long before ladies who like to sunbathe in the back garden have to watch out for nosy neighbours with low flying drones.

“Eh up, Mavis. Cover up quick. That sneaky peeker from number nine is at it again.”

I thought drones were unmanned aircraft that flew over war zones carrying cameras and bombs while being controlled by operators in Nevada.

Or Lincoln. Yes, they have flown missions over Afghanistan whilst being directed by RAF personnel at an RAF base near Lincoln.

Wow. Isn’t technology wonderful?

Then I read that Amazon was planning to use them to transport parcels. This seemed reasonable as long as there wasn’t a radio malfunction and I had a laser guided missile delivered instead of the latest Bernard Cornwell novel. Whoops! Sorry, Honley.

Now I have discovered that commercial photographers have been licensed to operate drones in the UK. They will presumably be used to take amazing wedding shots from new angles, aerial countryside views and coastline vistas. And, presumably, to capture embarrassment, scandal and news exposes.

There are, apparently, already a handful of journalists licensed with the Civil Aviation Authority to commercially use Small Unmanned Aircraft.

And watch out for this to become a new craze and private hobby for 2015: you can buy a drone complete with camera for under £40 on eBay or Amazon. Maybe if you buy one from Amazon it will deliver itself.

Wow. Isn’t technology wonderful?

Instead of climbing trees to peak into a celebrity’s back garden or using a telephoto lens from a mile away to snap the Duchess of Cambridge topless, tabloid snappers will be able to sit back in comfort and direct their machine over private lands, gardens or disasters to take close-up and personal photographs.

This may not come with out problems. Last year, a drone was in a near miss with a passenger jet at Heathrow at 700 feet. The owner of the drone has never been identified.

The British Airline Pilots’ Association general secretary Jim McAuslan said: “The technology is developing quickly and we could see remote aircraft the same size as a Boeing 737 being operated commercially in our skies within 10 years.”

That’s one flight to Spain I would not like to be on.

“Welcome aboard this Unmanned Airways flight to Barcelona. My name is Mike Brown and I’m your pilot for this trip. Jeremy White is alongside me as first officer.

“We’re here at our head office in Huddersfield, where the weather is lousy. Lucky you lot heading for the sun. There may be turbulence on the flight but that won’t bother Jeremy and me. “We’ve got nice comfy chairs and the telly is tuned to Match of the Day. So relax, sit back, enjoy your trip and you’ll be landing in about three hours. Fingers crossed.”

Drones are at the start of a popularity curve. Experts say the same technology used in smartphones will make them easier to make and cheaper to buy. The big ones may make commercial sense in the future but I have a feeling that the smaller ones could become an intrusive nuisance flying over back gardens.

Unless Mavis doesn’t mind being watched by that sneakypeeker from number nine.