Amazon has chosen Darlington on Teesside to trial its new drone-based UK delivery service.
To be called Prime Air, the service will deliver parcels in under 60 minutes using its own designed and operated drones, said the e-commerce giant, using its existing fulfilment centre on the outskirts of Darlington.
An application has been submitted to the Civil Aviation Authority for the flights.
"We have built safe and reliable drone delivery services elsewhere in the world in close partnership with regulators and the communities we serve, and we are working to do the same in the UK," a spokesperson said.
"We are announcing that Prime Air is taking steps to start planning for initial flights from our fulfilment centre in Darlington.
"While there is still much work to do, this is an exciting step forward."
Once planning permission and CAA clearance is obtained, it will start recruiting for staff to operate the service, said the statement.
Amazon has been working on drone deliveries for some years with its earliest trial of an ‘autonomous delivery’ in Cambridgeshire in 2016.