This is the moment Nottinghamshire cops find an unconscious woman lying in a hedgerow in a field at night with the help of a high-tech police drone.

Nottinghamshire Police said the woman, name not disclosed, was reported as missing from her home and was believed to be in the area of Belvoir Castle on the Leicestershire border.

She was found lying unconscious in a field at around 11.40pm on 4th November.

Due to limited visibility, the police sent a drone into the air with thermal imaging technology that identified the victim lying at the edge of the field.

Cops on the ground ran to her location and found her unconscious. She was later treated by paramedics and was not deemed to be seriously injured.

The drone footage shows the moment the woman is detected at the edge of the field on the dark rainy night, apparently lying motionless on the ground.

Within seconds, two cops are seen running to the woman’s location and assisting her.

Nottinghamshire Police chief drone pilot Vince Saunders said: “Finding vulnerable missing people is an area in which our drone technology really excels”, adding that “officers were faced with the challenge of finding a cold, missing and potentially very poorly woman in total darkness”.

Saunders said a “traditional search could have taken hours, but out drone was able to find her within seconds of taking off”, and that the technology “allows us to search very large areas in very short space of time and can be deployed very quickly”.

The drone pilot added: “This was a great bit of work by all the officers involved and further proof of the potentially life-saving impact of drone technology.”

According to Nottinghamshire Police, the drone team consists of four drones and 17 volunteer pilots, and is available 24/7 for emergency response situations such as the filmed incident.

Drone operations are normally used for finding missing persons and supporting the arrest of suspects as well as helping with gathering evidence.

As well as thermal imaging, the drone used in the field rescue is able to pinpoint and track targets on a map and boasts a laser range-finder that offers accurate geo-location information up to 3,937 feet away.

The Nottinghamshire Police stated that UK police forces have been using a range of methods for gaining aerial views over events or people since the 1920s, including fixed-wing aeroplanes and airships.