Hackney Council is the leading the way on artificial intelligence (AI) in London, recent research shows.

The study by T-Impact published in April ranked councils against their investment in tech projects such as AI and automation, with Hackney Council leading London's local authorities.

Its head of digital and data Matthew Cain hailed the value of digital automation. He said: "Robotics plays an incredibly important role in our technology toolkit.

"We've been able to tell a really powerful story about what we've achieved with robotics process automation.

"We've shown how a person doing a task that takes four minutes and 57 seconds can be done by a robot in 27 seconds.

"We're moving at the speed colleagues are able to, delivering meaningful business benefit in weeks, not years."

Matthew added robotics was particularly valuable to the council in a policy climate where risk-aversion often dictates the 700 services it delivers.

The research showed less than 5 per cent of local authorities were involved in automation projects with the majority holding no plans to embrace the technology in the future.