Seeing delivery robots out on the streets is something many people up and down the country have become familiar with recently, but a charity has urged the government to bring in national regulations and clarify their legality.
Such devices are currently operating in many parts of the UK, including in Leeds, Sheffield, Barnsley, Milton Keynes and Bristol.
Starship Technologies, which is the market leader behind most of the robots, claims to have made more than two million deliveries in the UK using them since 2018.
The company has said it will manufacture the machines in Britain if the government changes the law to allow them to expand across the country.
But charity Living Streets has warned that the robots pose a threat to the safety of pedestrians and wheelchair users.
The charity, which says it aims to improve streets, cut road deaths and congestion and enhance health, has started a campaign calling on the government not to legalise delivery robots and to put a stop to what it has called “pavement overload”.
Zak Viney, from the charity, says: “It’s really important that people feel safe when they’re walking around the pavements.
“Our pavements are for everyone, but for wheelchair users, those who are visually impaired, and parents pushing prams, we actually have quite cluttered pavements.
“For us, delivery robots present an issue. They’ve been brought in with no national framework and they’re blocking pavements for some of the most vulnerable people within our society.”
