It's been known for a while that Android Pay is to launch in the UK this summer, but it seems we won't have long to wait before the service becomes available. It could be a matter of days.

That's the impression given by food chain Pret A Manger.

The Telegraph reports that a London branch of Pret was found to have put out marketing paraphernalia advertising the Android Pay service already.

An image showed that contactless payment terminals in the outlet were found to be accompanied by Android Pay instructions. "We now accept Android Pay," they said.

An employee also told the newspaper that the tags appeared overnight and have been displayed in stores from today, Friday 13 May.

READ: Android Pay UK explained: Release date, how it works and where it's supported

Many believed that Google world announce the UK availability of its contactless payment system during the Google I/O developers conference held on Wednesday 18 May. That still seems a good bet, with stores clearly in the process of readying themselves for action.

Barclays is not expected to be one of the banks that will be part of the Android Pay system at the beginning. Even though it is now available on rival Apple Pay, it is updating its own mobile banking app to support contactless payments on Android devices instead.

READ: Barclays goes it alone for Android contactless payment, not Android Pay