Amazon has delivered its first parcel by drone in the UK - dropping a small item into a customer's front garden less than two hours after they ordered it. 

The tech giant is trialling the new ultra-fast delivery service called Prime Air in Darlington, County Durham. 

Packages must weigh less than 5lb or 2.2kg and fit into the size of a shoebox to be eligible for drone delivery. 

Customers must also have a garden or yard for the parcel to be dropped off in and live within a 7.5 mile radius of Amazon's fulfilment centre.

While drone delivery is currently only available in Darlington, Amazon hopes to slowly expand the service to other parts of the UK. 

The tech giant is using its most modern drone, the MK30, to deliver customers' parcels. 

The aircraft are equipped with sensors that identify and avoid any obstacles in its path such as trampolines, washing lines and other drones.

As the drone approaches each drop-off point, it knows exactly where to release the package using GPS.

The parcels, which must contain everyday items such as beauty products or batteries, are dropped from a height of 12ft into the customers' garden or yard. 

In the UK, Amazon can deliver parcels by drone in under two hours. 

However in the US, where the system is already used across five states, the average time is just 36 minutes. 

The tech giant can carry out up to ten drone flights every hour or as many as one hundred deliveries a day from Monday to Friday. 

David Carbon from Prime Air said: 'Starting flights in Darlington marks an important milestone in bringing drone delivery to the UK. 

'Safety is our top priority and we have worked closely with Darlington Council and the Civil Aviation Authority. 

'Our MK30 drones are designed to operate quietly and efficiently. 

'We look forward to demonstrating how this innovative technology can serve the people of Darlington while maintaining the highest safety standards.' 

Rob Shield allowed Amazon to use an AirBnb on his farm to carry out its first test runs with the drones. 

He told the BBC: 'Initially it was a novelty, so we were ordering everything under the sun. Pens, paper, chocolates - anything to make it keep coming.

'Since then, you obviously start realising "I actually need something today" like tape measures and stuff like that you're always losing - we just order it and it comes.' 

The NHS is already trialling the use of drones to deliver blood supplies in London. 

Meanwhile, the Royal Mail has started using the aircraft to send packages to remote communities in Orkney.

Amazon chose Darlington to test out Prime Air in the UK because it has a mix of residential areas, major roads and an airport. 

The tech giant is trialling the service in the area until the end of the year. 

It has secured temporary protected airspace until June but this is expected to be extended.

A spokesperson for Darlington Borough Council said: 'It's great to see Darlington at the forefront of such a pioneering scheme which highlights our borough as an area of innovation, development and investment.' 

Amazon previously ran a short trial of an earlier version of the Prime Air drone delivery system in Cambridgeshire in 2016. 

Frederic Laugere, head of innovation advisory services at the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), previously said: 'Exploring the options of how drones can be safely and successfully incorporated into more of the UK's airspace is key.

'It is vital that projects such as this take place to feed into the overall knowledge and experiences that will soon enable drones to be operating beyond the line of sight of their pilot on a day-to-day basis, while also still allowing safe and equitable use of the air by other users.'