A SHOCKED mum was startled to find her 11-month-old baby crying in the middle of the night... as a flying drone spied on her through the window.

The family, who live near the White Hart pub in Hockley, were targeted during the early hours of yesterday morning, at around 2am.

The drone is believed to have been flying by her daughter’s window for at least ten minutes before it was interrupted and flew away.

Although the motive behind the incident is unclear, the family fear foul play may have been involved and hoped to warn others living in the area.

The 34-year-old, said: “My little girl woke up in the early hours of the morning when she is usually such a good sleeper. She just kept looking towards the window, which was open where its been really hot and so were the blinds.

“I looked out and the drone was just hovering outside. I thought if I turn the lights on they will find out I’ve seen them, so I went downstairs and saw it was hovering in my garden.

“I then turned the floodlights on outside and it scared them off, but I just couldn’t sleep after that. It makes you feel sick people can just watch like that.

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“I spoke to the police and they said it’s more than likely youngsters are using the drones as break in devices where it’s easier than jumping fences or looking in back gardens. They also said it could even have been a pervert we really don’t know, it just makes you think what kind of world are we living in now.

“My main concern is my daughter, especially if it is a paedophile looking into the window.”

Adrian Eves, councillor for Hockley, has slammed the “terrible” behaviour.

He said: “This is absolutely shocking to say the least. The trouble is drones are so cheap and the definition is good so people do use them for various reasons, sometimes the wrong reasons.

“There is also the anonymity aspect, its really difficult to determine where they’re being controlled from.

"People need to be made aware this is happening, especially when you have a young baby being spied on. Its terrible.”

Contact Essex Police on 101 quoting incident number 246.