IS it a bird? Is it a plane?

No, it’s Colchester Borough Homes’ drone.

The council organisation is hoping to rake in cash by offering a drone service to developers, farmers as well as firms with buildings which need to be inspected.

Colchester Borough Homes, which has owned and used the device for about 18 months, hopes to attract businesses with “competitive prices” a “professional service”.

Bosses say the drone will be able to produce high-resolution still photos and up to 4k video footage.

Prices will start at about £350 per day.

Mark Wright, director of property services at Colchester Borough Homes - which maintains and manages all Colchester Council’s property, including Colchester Castle - called the move “low risk”.

He said the organisation had bought the drone outright for £2,500 about 18 months ago.

It has also spent £3,000 on training an approved operator, who can also interpret the data which is collected by the device.

Mr Wright said: “We have a responsibility not just for housing but also all the council’s corporate buildings.

“We realised instead of putting scaffolding up outside these buildings to take a look at it, it is much easier to put a drone up there to do the inspection, which, of course, cuts those costs.”

Mr Wright added: “We realised there are a number of organisations which had similar requirements in terms of buildings having to be inspected and we then thought about making it available commercially.”

The housing boss continued: “We believe there is a market for this and the great thing is there is no public money being invested.

“We’ve bought the thing already and the training was more expensive than the product and we have already recouped that money just by using it over the last 18 months.

“It is a business opportunity, that’s fair, but if nothing comes of it, it won’t waste any public money.

“This is very low risk.”

Gareth Mitchell, chief executive of Colchester Borough Homes, said it was a good business opportunity.

He said: “We are really pleased to be launching this new and innovative service to other businesses.

“The opportunity we’re offering is excellent value for money and the service exceptional.

“We have being successfully using the unmanned aerial vehicle for our own business needs for several years now and are, therefore, well aware of the many fantastic benefits it brings.”

The organisation is approved and accredited with the Civil Aviation Authority and has a Permission for Commercial Operations Licence.

Anyone wanting to find out more about the service, should go to cbhomes.org.uk/uav.