A POLICE officer captured these stunning images of north Essex while out flying his drone.

The 29-year-old officer, known as Raesy, has travelled around the most picturesque parts of our region to take his DJI Phantom 3 for a spin.

In a recent video called High Tide on The Strood, the camera zooms directly above the road for a bird's eye view of the island crossing.

After he got the drone last June as a present, Raesy has filmed and edited 16 videos in his spare time, which have clocked up thousands of views on YouTube.

The three minute and 56 second video of The Strood took around an hour to film.

Raesy, who is originally from Devon but has lived in Colchester for ten years, said: "I was really pleased with the quality of that particular video.

"I loved the colours of the water at high tide over the salt marshes and knew it would be popular.

"I had been to Mersea only a few weeks before and saw the sun setting so decided to throw the drone up. The views over the island and Strood were just spectacular but sadly the tide was out so I made the decision to revisit at a high tide - I was glad I went back."

He added: "I like going to the coastal areas because I grew up on the coast in Devon and also there's the room for me to fly.

"I've taken some awesome videos in Devon along the coast and Essex and plan to make many more this summer."

So far, almost 4,000 people have watched the clip of Mersea.

A police officer through-and-through, Raesy said people filming with drones should always stick to the Dronecode - flying rules set out by the Civil Aviation Authority.

He said: "Sadly some people are abusing drones and not sticking to the guidelines, so how long I'll be able to do it I don't know.

"It's a great hobby if you're a keen photographer and it's not difficult, you just need to use common sense and use the Dronecode which is a really easy guide to what you can and can't do.

"Sadly I think soon it will be ruined due to people using them dangerously."

Watch the videos by searching Raesy Drone Video on YouTube and see the photos on Instagram - Raesy_Drone_Videos.

To read the Dronecode, click here.