Northampton shopkeeper and son do aerial battle for Robot Wars-style TV show

Simon and Rory Tooley are set to feature their drone flying skills in a new CBBC show this morning.

Simon Tooley and his son Rory appeared on the CBBC channel last weekend as contestants of new series, Airmageddon.

The show, hosted by Will Best and Rachel Stringer, sees four teams of “aviators” navigate high-tech drones across a series of obstacle courses and slaloms in the hope of being crowned winner.

Simon, who owns Tooleys RC Toys on St Leonard’s Road in Northampton, was 11-year-old Rory’s wing man for the show, filmed at Cardington Hangar in Bedford.

He said: “I think around 600 people applied to be on the show so we felt so privileged to be invited along, it was tremendous fun.”

It was the second time dad Simon has appeared on television.

The 45-year-old wowed Simon Cowell in the first round of Britain’s Got Talent in 2014 with his a stunt display using a remote controlled plane.

Both he and Rory now compete in drone-flying competitions across the country, “We are both pretty handy with a drone,” said Mr Tooley.

Simon is to appear on another BBC channel later in the year as he was invited to take part in the adult version of Airmagedon, filmed using the same set-up in January.

The show aired at 8.25am on Saturday on CBBC and can be viewed on iPlayer.