Uber planning to bring Deliveroo competitor UberEATs food delivery service to UK

The app is already available in 16 cities around the world including New York, Paris and Singapore

UberEats will join a crowded market with Deliveroo and Just Eat offering a similar service. (Getty)

Uber might be planning to branch out into food delivery in the UK by launching a new delivery service.

The UberEat app, which is already available in 16 cities around the world, enables customers to get food from their local restaurants to be delivered directly to their door.

If launched in the UK, the app would be playing catch-up with similar services such as Deliveroo which has grown in popularity over the past few months.

“UberEATS has been hugely popular in every city around the world we have launched it in, so the fact we are exploring the UK market shouldn't come as a surprise.

"We're always looking at what other services we can bring to the market here,” a spokesperson for Uber said.

Uber has not officially confirmed the claims but the company has already advertised for “a restaurant partnerships manager” to build collaborations with the British food industry, according to Buzzfeed.

The company is also reportedly recruiting cycle couriers and scooters drivers in London.

The news come as the ride hailing company prepares to launch “Get there with Uber”, its first major advertising UK campaign, which aime to positions the company as an “essential” part of the transport mix.

Uber has faced criticism from traditional taxi services in major cities around the world including London and Paris.

The company won a significant victory in the High court in October last year when a judge said that its app does not violate laws on taximeters, allowing the service to continue as usual.

On Thursday the European Commission issued new guidelines warning officials to ease on the crackdown on companies such as Uber and Airbnb as they have contributed about €28 billion (£21.6bn) to the EU economy in 2015, with their revenues doubling in a year.

Elzbieta Bienkowska, Europe's senior official for industry and entrepreneurship, said such services were an opportunity, not a threat.