A fast-food restaurant in Japan has developed lockers where meals are placed for customers to collect without any human contact.

The KFC franchise behind the idea started the test trials of the lockers in four of its restaurants in Tokyo on October 13.

Customers can order the food online and pick up their orders on the designated time and store.

The small storage units can only be opened by punching a unique five-digit code printed on the receipt of each customer.

Once the code is activated, the locker doors will swing open and the customer can take the food inside.

The lockers will contain both food and drinks, which means that the units are not heated.

They are installed on the wall of the restaurant so customers can open them from the outside, while the kitchen staff can open it from the inside when placing the food.

In a press release, KFC said that the lockers can also cut out the waiting time aside from helping with social distancing measures.

The firm said: "Providing products without waiting time for take-out not only improves the ease of purchase for customers but can also be expected to have the effect of improving employee productivity."

KFC said it plans to roll out the lockers on a larger scale in Japan in the future after the trials become successful.