Leeds robot grocery delivery service extended

Robots will continue to make grocery deliveries in a Leeds suburb after a trial was extended.

The service was launched in November for an initial three months, for 20,000 residents in Adel and Tinshill.

Leeds City Council agreed to continue until June after 75% of people said they felt positive about the robots, which bring supermarket goods.

But the council said it did not plan to extend the service to other areas of the city at this point.

The robots were introduced to help reduce the number of short journeys made by car, officials said.

The scheme has been extended to help the council understand the impact on the community and whether the project helped to reduce carbon emissions, according to the authority.

A survey of 432 people found that nearly 40% had used the robots and 75% said they would support the service being introduced in other areas of the city.

Half of those who replied said they felt the robots had reduced short car journeys to collect groceries.

The council partnered with the Co-op and Starship Technologies to launch the project.

The robots are lightweight and travel at human walking pace - no faster than 4mph (6km/h).

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