Around 100 jobs are under threat with the proposed closure of a train carriage refurbishment firm in East Ayrshire, a union has said.

Wabtec is planning to "consolidate" its operations in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, following a reduction in orders, according to the Unite union.

The plans would result in the closure of its Kilmarnock base - originally opened as Andrew Barclay and Sons in 1840 - which has helped refurbish recent Abellio ScotRail and ScotRail models.

In November 2017, the rail firm was awarded a train refurbishment contract worth around £8 million, funded by the Scottish Government.

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One report suggested changes at the firm came as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

Unite regional industrial officer Paul Bennett has criticised the planned closure.

He said: "The Wabtec site in Kilmarnock is steeped in history since opening as Andrew Barclay and Sons in 1840 as an engineering workshop.

"It was only recently Wabtec was saying that was it fully committed to the long-term success of its Kilmarnock facility and that it planned to 'invest accordingly'.

"We are dismayed by this decision and believe it to be completely premature.

"That's why we are demanding that the company work with us to explore every avenue to bring in more work."

He added: "Unite is also asking the Scottish Government to offer every support it can to keep the yard open in order to ensure that jobs can be supported in Kilmarnock and that some manufacturing footprint for our rail industry is still left in Scotland."

Wabtec has been contacted for comment.

Tesco has ramped up its home delivery and Click & Collect services after a surge in demand in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

The supermarket giant said it has grown its delivery and collection capacity to around 780,000 slots this week, up from 660,000 slots two weeks ago, with plans to increase this by another 100,000 in the coming weeks.

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It added more than 200 new vans and recruited another 2,500 drivers and over 5,000 pickers, as part of the delivery expansion.

It comes after shoppers reported difficulties in securing online delivery slots on the back of soaring demand.

Last week, Tesco said it was limiting shoppers to only 80 items per online order.

Dave Lewis, Tesco chief executive, said coronavirus has "led to unprecedented levels of demand for grocery shopping services".

He added: "We're doing everything we can to increase the number of slots available and to support vulnerable people.

"Through a series of measures including more drivers, pickers and vans, we'll expand the number of slots available each week; but this still isn't enough to meet the demand.

"For this reason it is vital that customers who can come into stores and shop for themselves do so - so we can free up as many slots as possible for vulnerable people."

Elsewhere, Aldi has said it is relaxing shopping restrictions for a raft of products across its UK stores.

The discount supermarket introduced a blanket limit of four of every product after reports of panic-buying from customers in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

It said it will also continue limit customers to only two of its most popular items, which include antibacterial hand gel, UHT milk and baby formula.

Meanwhile, items such as nappies, bleach, toilet roll, pasta, tinned tomatoes, beer and hand wash will be limited to four items per person.

Products such as fresh fruit and vegetables and meat will no longer be rationed for shoppers.

The company said: "While we would still encourage people to buy only what they need, product availability in store is good and the move will make it easier for people to shop for vulnerable people and those who are self-isolating."

Seasonal plants worth £200 million that have been grown for sale in garden centres will have to be destroyed because of the coronavirus lockdown, a trade body has warned.

Hundreds of nurseries and growers - many of them family businesses - face ruin as the market for seasonal plants is shut down at the busiest time of year when people normally flock to outlets to restock their gardens.

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Because many of the plants are seasonal and perishable, they will have to be binned if they cannot be sold in garden centres that have closed because of the Covid-19 outbreak, the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) said.

The HTA is calling for Government support of the ornamental crop sector, which grows bulbs, bedding plants, cut flowers and pot plants for garden centres, supermarkets, florists and DIY stores.

The HTA says around 650 businesses across the UK produce ornamental crops, contributing £1.4 billion to the economy each year and employing more than 15,000 people directly and almost 30,000 indirectly.

Sales have dwindled since the Mother's Day weekend, when demand would be normally high but people were already beginning to self-isolate, the trade body said.

The virus lockdown means there are unlikely to be any sales over Easter and through to the May bank holiday, the busiest time of year for the gardening sector, and when 70% of bedding plants are sold, so growers will have to write off their stock.

The value of lost plant sales in the UK will be £687 million by the end of June, the HTA suggests.

HTA chairman James Barnes warned that growers are facing stock losses on an ever-rising scale as each day passes.

"We are calling for the Government to work with the HTA, as the industry's representative body, to come up with a financial support scheme to help those businesses which have had to scrap perishable stock and are facing a huge financial crisis."