Amateur photographers will soon be able to process digital snaps at vending machines.

Photo-Me International said that each picture would cost around 15p and the pioneering machines would be available alongside many of its 26,000 photo booths worldwide.

This follows successful trials of the Digital Media Kiosks at 265 sites in mainland Europe and a boom in digital technology this year.

Users will need to plug the memory chips of their digital cameras or mobile phones into the machines for an instant print, the company said.

The announcement came as Photo-Me announced a ten-fold rise in profits for the six months to October 31 to £15.1m mainly fuelled by the uptake in digital technology.

Demand for its digital minilab, which can process 1,500 snaps an hour, contributed to the turnover from its manufacturing division more than doubling to £38.1m.

Chief executive Serge Crasnianski said: "We believe that the widespread adoption of, and developments in, digital photography offer huge opportunities to Photo-Me International for sustained profitable growth."

Photo-Me International, which is based in Bookham, Surrey, operates 5,600 photo booths in the UK and Ireland.