An automated prescription collection machine could be installed in an Irvine street outside a pharmacy.
Customers would enter a PIN to collect their medicine and it would be dispensed from a slot at Lawthorn Pharmacy.
Firm Willow Health Care has applied for planning permission to make it happen.
Staff would load the prescriptions into the machine and people could pick them up 24 hours a day at the chemist in Cardow Crescent.
It is understood some of the machines have already been installed in parts of the UK and Europe.
Company Plande lodged a design statement with North Ayrshire Council outlining details of the plan.
The document said the machine could hold 180 dispensing bags and would be monitored by CCTV.
Some types of drugs would not be offered through the machine according to the statement.
A comment submitted to North Ayrshire Council on the application said: “I think it’s a good idea especially for people who work during normal opening hours.”
Shift workers would be able to collect their prescriptions at convenient times including on Sundays.
It is also claimed it would free up pharmacy staff to spend more time with patients.
No decision has been taken on the planning application yet.
