A HIGH STREET kiosk that recharges mobile phones and iPods is due to be unveiled this month. For £1, shoppers who have run out of battery on their portable devices will be able to recharge them in a secure locker in a machine called a ChargeBox.

BoxBrands, the company behind the project, says the ChargeBox kiosks are the first of their kind in Britain and will soon become a familiar sight at locations such as airports, railway stations, cinemas, shopping centres and festivals.

"They can be installed anywhere, and are both safe and easy to use", Toby Staveley the MD of BoxBrands said. "We plan to roll them out all over the country so that they will soon be everywhere. ChargeBoxes will be popular with people who need to use their phone as a matter of emergency or who unexpectedly run out of charge on their ipods."

The kiosks will be able to charge up to twenty four different brands of phones as well as iPods, BlackBerries and pdas with the range changed to take into account the latest models and trends.

They will accept both cash and SMS payments. Users can lock their devices inside the ChargeBox with a simple key interface. They will be able to leave them to charge and return at their own convenience. The first machines will be sited at locations such as easyInternetcafes, Novotel hotels, Road Chef, Vodafone stores, the Carphone Warehouse and various airports. One hundred ChargeBoxes are being launched this month but BoxBrands has ambitions to have over 1000 in the UK by the end of the year.