Ramsay closes homeland restaurant

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has turned his back on his Scottish homeland - by closing his only restaurant north of the Border.

The entrepreneur, renowned for his fiery temper in the kitchen, said he was shutting Amaryllis in Glasgow because he wanted to concentrate on his London outlets.

It is thought staff heard about the closure only when they arrived for work on Wednesday. The restaurant was reported to be losing £200,000 a year.

Amaryllis opened in March 2001 and was situated in the five-star hotel One Devonshire, where singer Justin Timberlake is currently staying while on tour.

Ramsay said: 'I am sad to be closing Amaryllis. It was dear to my heart, as Glasgow is my birth town.

'It is never an easy decision to close a restaurant but we have been unable to adapt what we do in London to the market in Glasgow and we can no longer carry the losses.'

Uncertainty hung over Ramsay's culinary empire last night - another restaurant, Fleur in London, closed a few days ago.