UK's first professional drone race to be held in London

The first professional drone race in the UK will be staged at Alexandra Palace during London Tech Week next year.

The Drone Racing League (DRL) will hold its season finale event on June 13 and will also be broadcast live on the new Sky Sports Mix channel.

The DRL involves pilots flying drones at speeds of up to 90 miles per hour through neon-lit obstacle courses, while wearing headsets that give them a first-person view (FPV) of their craft thanks to cameras mounted onto the drones.

The league was founded in 2015 and is currently running its first full season, with races taking place in Los Angeles and Miami.

Muse singer Matt Bellamy is among those to have already invested in the league.

DRL founder Nicholas Horbaczewski said: "With a rapidly growing fan base in London and throughout the UK and the rest of Europe, we felt it was critical to find a venue and a partner locally for an iconic 2017 race.

"As an official event of London Tech Week, we have an incredible opportunity to deliver the sport of the future directly to one of the most creative and innovative tech communities in the world."

London Tech Week began in 2014 as a way of showcasing the technology industry in London through a week-long series of events including workshops and open days held by start-ups.

Andrew Cooke, acting CEO of organiser London & Partners said: "London Tech Week is already the largest festival of technology in Europe but our ambition is to make it bigger and better than ever in the coming years.

"We are really excited to partner with DRL to bring one of the world's most exciting sports races to London in 2017.

"We want to make London Tech Week open to a wider audience and by bringing the UK's first professional drone race to London we hope to attract both consumers and business leaders to experience everything London's booming tech scene has to offer."