Robots will begin transporting takeaways around London later this year

Londoners will be soon be able to order takeaway grub and have it brought to them by a self-driving intelligent robotic delivery droid.

A squad of cute looking cyber-couriers will begin travelling on the pavements of central London within just a few months, delivering food ordered through the website Just Eat.

The robot is designed and built by Starship, a firm set up in 2014 by the co-founders of Skype.

During a testing period, it has travelled more than 5,000 miles along pavements in 35 cities around the world, meeting more than 400,000 people along the way without hurting anyone.

It is expected to start delivering food from selected London restaurants in the next two or three months.

Henry Harris-Burland, communications manager of Starship, said the delivery droid was "incredibly safe" and predicted humans would soon get used to seeing a food-laden machine speeding along pavements.

"It's amazing how quickly this robot has integrated into public life," he told The Sun.

People who get food delivered by droid will be given a code to unlock it. They will then be able to remove the food and send the robot pootling back to its home.

The top speed of the robot is three miles an hour and it uses optical sensors to keep an eye out for obstacles.

Fernando Fanton, chief product &and technology officer at Just Eat said: “This is another example of how we are pushing technology boundaries to provide our customers and restaurant partners with more choice and flexibility.

"We’ve always been committed to offering our customers new ways to order and pay for their food and now we’re right at the heart of a new way of delivering food which is as exciting for us as it will be for those who find a robot on their doorstep.”