Living Streets launched a new campaign earlier this summer calling for the government to introduce national regulations for the use of delivery robots on pavements across the country.

Typically taking the form of a small, box-shaped, six-wheeled autonomous unit that can travel on pavements at speeds up to 4mph (roughly the same speed as a mobility scooter), delivery robots use sensors, AI, and computer vision to navigate autonomously, avoiding obstacles and mapping their environment.

They are mainly used for last-mile deliveries of groceries, takeaways, and parcels and trials of these devices are currently underway in Sheffield, Leeds, Barnsley, Milton Keynes, Sunderland, Reading, Bristol, Northampton and Cambridge.

In an open letter to the secretary of state for transport, Heidi Alexander, Living Streets highlighted the ‘unresolved legal position' that delivery robots fall under in the UK and asked the Government to clarify it.

The letter added that Britain's pavements are ‘already under significant pressure' and that for blind and partially sighted people, wheelchair users, older pedestrians and anyone who depends on mobility aids, adding these devices to the ‘existing pavement congestion' could prevent navigation hazards on ‘the only safe route available to them'.

In response to a written question from Olly Glover, MP for Didcot and Wantage, Simon Lightwood (then minister for roads and buses) said: ‘The Government is aware pavement robots are being used in some towns around the country. We are committed to bringing forward legislation to ensure the safe and lawful use of micromobility vehicles when parliamentary time allows, and the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill contains powers for local leaders to control where micromobility delivery vehicles can be used in future.

‘Safety will remain our top priority whilst considering regulation for new technology, and any new regulations will be subject to public consultation and impact assessment, including on safety, wheelchair users and visually impaired people, before they come into force.'