A drone is being deployed to help keep an eye on swimmers at a West Auckland beach this summer.
The drone, a gift from the Mayor of Guangzhou, China, to Len Brown has been re-gifted to the Karekare Surf Lifesaving club.
The plan is for the surveillance drone to be trialled at KareKare beach as a way of improving rescue response times.
Club patrol captain and drone operator Matt Wade said it would enable the team to keep a closer eye on beach activity.
"It won't take away the need for rescue craft and lifeguards, but it will give us another pair of excellent eyes where it really counts," he said. "It will alert the lifeguards to people swimming out of the patrolled area and generally enhance our ability to save lives."
He said ideally the drone would be flown north over the infamous Cauldron where many rescues take place and south over unpatrolled areas toward Whatipu.
Mr Wade said the drone would be operated within Civil Aviation Authority regulations.
He said similar trials had already been underway in Australia, where the drones had been a "great success".
