Royal Mail shelves plans to deliver via drones as strikes cripple business

He added: “Our new spectrum licence will enable pioneers of innovative, emerging drone technology to harness its full potential and offer a broader range of services to people and businesses across the UK.”

The regulator said drones could be used to deliver medical supplies to remote areas and to use in search and rescue operations.

Amazon has been trialling drone technology to help deliver its parcels by air. However, the US tech giant laid off more than 100 workers at its Prime Air division, mostly based in Cambridge, as the project stalled last year.

Meanwhile, Google has also begun testing parcel delivery by drone in a Dublin suburb.

But the delay by Royal Mail, which held one of the largest commercial trials, will cast doubts over the wider rollout of commercial drones.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “Royal Mail intends to continue trialling drone technology, subject to Civil Aviation Authority approval.

“No decisions have been made on the future use of drones as we continue to focus on deliveries in remote locations.”

It comes as postal bosses continue to clash with unions amid a wave of strike action that threatens to derail Christmas deliveries.

Royal Mail is pushing through automation that it says is essential for the future of the business, but which the Communication Workers Union (CWU) claims will lead to waves of unnecessary job cuts.

Workers have been offered a 9pc pay rise, which the CWU has so far rejected.

Chairman Keith Williams and chief executive Simon Thompson last week told the Telegraph that Royal Mail intended to push through reforms to the business with or without the backing of unions.

They said that 12,000 postal workers are prepared to cross the picket lines each day – a sixfold increase since autumn – and that the company has allocated £1.7bn to invest in the business as the row continues.