Visitors to Italy will now have an extra step in their Airbnb check-in process as the country has banned lockboxes for home rentals.

The days of arriving late at an Airbnb in Italy and opening up the keybox to let yourself will soon be over after the country issued a ban on self-check-ins under a new law it says is needed to combat potential terrorism.

Tourists in Italy will no longer be able to access short-term rentals using key boxes after the country's police chief said owners must verify the identity of guests in person. The move has been brought in as a security measure and follows a similar step being taken in Florence.

Italy is to crack down on short-term let platforms such as Airbnb by decreeing that property owners can no longer use metal key boxes as a means of allowing tourists to access rental apartments.