Starship delivery robots spotted 'training' to cross road in Yorkshire village ahead of Co-op launch

Dog trainer Will Smart posted a video of several of the robots on Facebook when he spotted them trying to cross Otley Road in Adel, west Leeds, earlier this week.

Mr Smart and several others who saw the robots initially believed that they were unable to cross as they were backed up on the pavement.

Yet convenience store chain Co-op have now confirmed that the robots were actually ‘in training’ ahead of a Leeds launch later this month and had not malfunctioned.

They will deliver groceries to customers using an app within a two-mile radius of participating shops.

Co-op has already trialled a partnership with the Starship app in several areas of south-east England ahead of the Leeds pilot.

The robots are secure and their contents can only be accessed by the ordering customer, who will receive a personalised code to open them.

A Co-op spokesperson said: “The robots are in training, and they have to be programmed to understand roads. We haven’t gone live in Leeds just yet. They are learning the roads, traffic patterns, and surfaces so that they will take the quickest, safest route.”