Alphabet will start testing its drone delivery service in Europe from next year, having struggled to gain momentum for the service in the US, in the latest signal that tech giants are beginning to see the region as a prime testbed for new technologies.

Announcing the plans at Slush conference, in Helsinki, Finland, the chief executive of Alphabet's Wing business, James Burgess, said the company would be launching a pilot in the city next spring, delivering packages of up to 1.5kg for up to 6.2 miles.

Wing has already been trialing its Hummingbird drones in Tampere, north of Helsinki, which do not land but instead lower packages down to the ground using string.

It said it was starting the European trial service in Finland as "Finns are internationally renowned for being early-adopters of new technologies".

"Based on what we know about the winter weather in Finland, we're pretty confident that if our drones can deliver here, they can deliver anywhere."