Having decided that Darlington would be the location in the UK where delivery by drone will be piloted (geddit?), it's already rumoured that one of Amazon's delivery drones was shot down.

But that's not a surprise.

As spokesperson explained:

The last time I travelled through Darlington by train someone shot at the train with an air rifle, the pellet pinging off the carriage window.

If you remember, Arthur Seaton, the archetypal 'angry young man', used his rifle to ward off a nosy neighbour. Although that was in Nottingham.

Darlington may have been chosen for its communications heritage, as it was here that the first public railway, the Stockton and Darlington engineered by George Stephenson, was opened in 1825.

FNN expects that Amazon will have significant problems with people taking pot-shots at passing drones as they are perfect for target practice and you just may get a freebie parcel dropped from the sky into your garden.