London drivers, beware: Nissan's first driverless cars will hit the streets of the capital next month, it said today.

The car manufacturer said it will bring "real-world demonstrations" of autonomous cars to London, with "live environment" tests of a modified Nissan Leaf.

The tests will be Nissan's first on public roads in Europe – although it has been testing versions of both its Qashqai and Leaf models which are equipped with autonomous drive technology, which enables autonomous driving on motorways (if you're brave enough).

It's only natural Nissan should try its driverless technology out in the UK – it's Britain's biggest car manufacturer, making up one in three of all cars made in the UK, with 80 per cent of those exported to markets all over the world.

It won't be the first time driverless cars have come to the UK: in October the Lutz pathfinder project began testing pod-like autonomous vehicles on the streets of Milton Keynes, while the Gateway project has tested dinky driverless cars in Greenwich.

Still, business secretary Greg Clark was excited: "Government and industry are working together to build on our world class reputation for excellence as a leading location for automotive R&D and manufacturing," he said today.

"We want to see centres… continue to develop, making us a world leader in the development and testing of auto technology so we can anchor the next generation of vehicle manufacturing and its supply chain here in the UK."

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