Britain's first 'air taxis' could be picking up passengers within four years, a technology company has claimed.

Vertical Aerospace, a Bristol-based start-up founded in 2016, has built and flown the UK’s first electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, a significant milestone for the transport industry’s flying taxi ambitions.

The firm said it had ambitions to make personal air travel on-demand and carbon-free.

Equipped with four propellers at the front and back of a helicopter-shaped body, the vehicle’s vertical take-off and landing technology would allow it to travel between exact locations, without a pilot having to make diversions to an airport.

The company obtained permission from the Civil Aviation Authority to operate the aircraft and in June flew a test flight in Kemble, Gloucestershire.

It is currently capable of a five minute flight time at a top speed of 80kmph. The company has since flown a dozen test flights.

The start-up said it one day plans to add autonomous flights and an on-demand service, meaning users could call a flying taxi to their location. The start-up said it plans to launch an intercity air taxi service by 2022.

A number of different companies have shown interest in flying taxi services. Uber, the ride-hailing app, plans to launch a pilot scheme for electric flying taxis in Dallas and Los Angeles in 2020 through its uberAIR venture, while British firm Rolls-Royce announced in July that it has built a propulsion system for a flying taxi. Lilium, a German start-up, made the world’s first electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft in 2017.