According to Meat Info, The retailer, which described the situation as an “anomaly” and admitted it was “highly questionable” from a food miles point of view, said the situation was a case of “Hobson’s choice”.

Max Tooley, meat technical manager for poultry, said: “Last year the Grampian Country Food Group closed its Banff site, which didn’t leave us any option.”

As a result, he said, Scottish chicken from Grampian’s Cooper Angus slaughter plant was being sent to a plant in Essex for processing into portions before being shipped back for sale in Scotland.

However, he said, the situation, which has been in place for around six months now, would soon be changed with the approval of a new processing plant in Scotland. “Two Sisters has recently bought Mitchell Brothers in Scotland and we’re waiting to approve their site for all our Scottish chicken.”