The electronics chain Maplin has become the first high street retailer to sell 3D printers to consumers.
The £700 machine allows users to print three-dimensional objects and has been hailed as the future of manufacturing.
To print something simple such as a new mobile phone case can take 30 minutes, while something more complicated such as a piece of jewellery could take several hours.
Last week at Paris fashion week for haute couture, the Dutch designer Iris van Herpen used the technology to create intricate shoes for the catwalk.
Maplin hopes to tap into a market which has so far been used only by professional printing companies. It appears to be popular, with online orders for the K8200 printer already requiring a 30-day wait for delivery.
The device is no bigger than a paper printer but users must assemble it and replacement cartridges of the plastic raw material cost £30.
The new technology has caused controversy in the US after a student managed to build a working gun with the printer. He later posted the designs online.
The printers work by building tiny layers of plastic on top of each other to make the 3D creation.
N-Scientia 