Customers from beyond the city have flocked to the shop in search of vibrators and other sex toys, often on the advice of their doctors, Dr Franco Bonazzi, who owns the Farmacia Centrale, said.

"We’ve been selling these products for about a year now," he told The Local.

"For therapeutic reasons, such as relaxing vaginal muscles. The Ministry of Health and doctors recognize this value."

Bonazzi added that the store has never faced criticism for selling the sex aids, unlike the UK high street retailer Boots, which caused an outcry in 2012 for displaying the appliances close to healthcare products for children.

On the contrary, people have been more inclined to call in to inquire about the products, he said, adding that other chemists in the city also sell sex toys, as well as in other parts of Italy.

The display has caused more of a flap in the media, he added, after it was first reported by Corriere.

Chemists across Europe have been tapping into the thriving sex toy market for a number of years now.

Alongside Boots, the aids are sold in the UK at retailers Tesco and Superdrug.

Meanwhile, Swedes have been able to pop to their local state-run chemists for the appliances since 2008.