STAFF at Tony Macaroni in Irvine were given less than a week's notice that the restaurant would be closing, the Times has been told.

The Italian restaurant in the town's Riverway Retail Park opened for the final time on Saturday, May 20.

The company has yet to issue a statement shedding light on the reasons for the restaurant's closure.

The Times understands that staff at the Irvine branch were offered the chance to keep their job but working at a new base, the chain's newest Ayrshire restaurant in Kilmarnock.

However, one member of staff in Irvine claimed that employees were asked to consider joining the teams at the company's restaurants in Largs and Braehead.

The same member of staff also made a number of other claims about the company, including an allegation around the late payment of wages.

The Times put those accusations to Tony Macaroni, who have yet to comment.

The Irvine branch of the restaurant chain opened in December 2019, in a building left vacant by the closure of the Frankie and Benny's branch earlier in the year.

The closure of the Irvine restaurant leaves Tony Macaroni with only two branches in Ayrshire, in Largs - where its sister company Nardini's is also located - and Kilmarnock.