Jamie Oliver is to close one of his Jamie's Italian restaurants in Scotland amid tough trading conditions.

The outlet on Union Street in Aberdeen is one of six of the celebrity chef's restaurants that will shut down in the UK in the first quarter of 2017.

Restaurants will also close in Cheltenham, Exeter, Ludgate, Richmond and Tunbridge Wells.

The Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group said on Friday the company will attempt to place the 120 staff affected in other parts of the business.

Following long delays, Jamie's Italian in Aberdeen opened in February 2013.

Chief executive Simon Blagden said: "As every restaurant owner knows, this is a tough market and, post-Brexit, the pressures and unknowns have made it even harder.

"While our overall business is in very good shape - we finished last year with like-for-like sales growth and an increase in covers - because we refuse to compromise on the quality and provenance of our ingredients and our commitment to training and developing our staff, we need restaurants that can serve an average of 3000 covers every week to be sustainable.

"These closures are in no way a reflection on the dedication and commitment of our staff and my first priority is to try to secure those affected alternative jobs within other Jamie's Italian restaurants."

As well as staff costs and lower footfall, the group has been stung by the collapse in the pound, which has ramped up the cost of buying ingredients from Italy.

According to accounts filed at Companies House, revenue at Jamie's Italian rose by almost 9% to £116.1m in 2015, although profits fell from £3.8m to £2.3m.

There are 42 Jamie's Italian outlets in the UK and 28 overseas, employing 3100 people in Britain.

The group said it will now focus on the "core Jamie's Italian estate" and on the expansion of the Barbecoa brand, which will have two new openings in 2017.

Internationally, the firm plans to launch another 22 Jamie's Italian restaurants and develop its newly acquired Australian restaurants.