A British man will appear in court accused of flying drones over packed football stadiums and London landmarks including Buckingham Palace, police said Wednesday.

Nigel Wilson of Nottingham, central England, has been summoned over 17 breaches of the Air Navigation Order last year, Scotland Yard police headquarters said in a statement.

The 42-year-old allegedly failed to maintain contact with a small unmanned aircraft in London near the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace, as well as HMS Belfast, a museum ship moored on the River Thames, and The Shard, an 87-storey skyscraper.

He is accused of breaching air navigation laws by failing "to monitor its flight path in relation to persons and structures for the purposes of avoiding collisions," in September 2014.

The charges also relate to drone flights over Anfield, home to Liverpool Football Club, and a string of other English football grounds during matches.

It is legal to fly small unmanned aircraft in Britain but only if they are kept in the remote pilot's sight. Any operations beyond that distance, or in congested areas, must be approved by the Civil Aviation Authority.

This includes any unmanned aircraft, other than a balloon or a kite, with a mass of not more than 20 kilograms.

A drone was also flown without permission from aviation authorities over a "congested area" during a match between Liverpool and Aston Villa on September 13, and three days later during a Liverpool match against Bulgaria's Ludogorets FC, according to the police statement.

Similar incidents occurred at London's Emirates Stadium during a football match between Arsenal and Tottenham, and at stadiums in Nottingham, Derby, Stoke-On-Trent and Leicester, all in central England.

Wilson is set to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court in London on April 16.