THE fingerprints of the Gatwick drone yobs are “unknown to police” leaving cops STILL no closer to finding the culprits.

Prints on a damaged drone found near to the airport were run through a national database but no match was found by Sussex Police.

The blank is another embarrassing setback for the authorities who are still unable to catch those responsible for plunging thousands of people into Christmas travel chaos.

More than 760 flights were cancelled last week when drones were spotted over the runway at Britain’s second busiest airport.

Gatwick was shut down with police snipers assisted by the Army, RAF and MI5 spooks to tried to catch the culprits.

But still as the chase enters the second humiliating week the cops are still no closer.

Speaking to MailOnline, a police source said: “Sussex Police have been working alongside the Met, who hold the National Fingerprint Database, which contains, among others, the biometric information of thousands of extremists from terrorists to far right activists and eco warriors.

"The prints found on the drone did not match any of those on the Yard's database. It's a blow because police were hoping this may give them a new lead in the case."

Yesterday police were branded "Keystone cops" and "clueless" by a furious senior MP.

Sussex Police, the Department for Transport and Gatwick officials all told The Sun there was no update to the week-long investigation.

The probe has so far been marked by a string of embarrassing blunders.

Officers arrested enthusiasts Paul Gait and Elaine Kirk on Friday night - only to release them two days later, admitting they'd got the wrong people.

The wrongly accused couple broke down outside their home as they described the toll their ordeal has taken.

A senior cop then added to the confusion by suggesting there may never have been a drone in the first place.

The force quickly backtracked, insisting there had in fact been dozens of sightings last Wednesday night.

MP John Woodcock, a member of the Commons' home affairs committe, told The Sun: "We are all flabbergasted about how clueless everyone seems over what should be a pretty basic situation.

"It’s like a motorway being brought to a standstill by a couple of kids with remote control cars while the Keystone cops scratch their head."

He warned the disastrous handling of the case should prompt a "thorough rethink" of the law on drones, which are growing increasingly popular.

Mr Woodcock added: "If a couple of amateurs can genuinely disable an entire airport, we should be looking at radical solutions like fitting all drones with chips so they can be immediately disabled in certain zones or which automatically transmit the coordinates of their pilot so mischief makers can be tracked down."

The independent MP also said Sussex Police should be kicked off the probe in the wake of the ongoing chaos.

Scotland Yard boss Cressida Dick insisted the Met Police would be ill-equipped to take over.

But she said the drone fiasco was a "wake-up call", adding: "We need to up our game here, we need to work even more closely with the private companies, we need to work even more closely with the military.

"We need to try to be able to prevent the criminal use of drones for whatever motivation near our airports.

"If somebody does do that, we need to find them as quickly as possible, get the drone under control and also bring the people to justice."

Gatwick is still offering a £50,000 reward for information to bring the drone vandals to justice.