The owner of a popular seaside cafe and takeaway has issued a public plea for Scots to stay at home after seeing the shorefront 'rammed with people'.

Hordes of people were seen on Largs shorefront on Saturday despite government advice to stay indoors and keep a safe distance from others to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Now, Claudio Nardini, co-owner at Nardini at the Moorings, has announced his cafe will completely close in order to convince people to stay safe.

Taking to Facebook, Mr Nardini wrote: "Seeing the prom rammed with people and dozens of cars queuing for the ferry today like nothing was out of the ordinary really saddened me.

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"Everyone at work today was overcome with a strange feeling of guilt, almost as if we were contributing to this madness. For this reason, we have decided to completely close this evening until this whole thing blows over."

He said he saw crowds of people walking hand in hand, with grandmothers holding babies and elderly people mingling with others on the promenade.

Coronavirus has so far infected over 300 people in Scotland, and the outbreak has seen seven deaths in the country.

The government advice is for anyone over the age of 70 to stay indoors, and for people to limit contact with others to prevent further spread.

Mr Nardini has strong links to Italy, and says he can't help but see similarities between yesterday's tourist behaviour and that of Europeans several weeks ago.

The country has surpassed China's death rate in recent days, after registering 3,405 dead.

"I should have been overjoyed, the till was ringing constantly and coffees and ice creams were flying out the door," Mr Nardini explained.

READ MORE: Scottish islands and rural areas urge tourists to stay away during COVID-19 pandemic

"I wasn't because it reminded me of the images my family and friends were sending me only a couple of weeks ago and now look where they're at. 

"I sent them a photo of today's packed prom and they couldn't believe it especially when we should be using their recent experience as an example.

"Please please please stay at home if you can, I couldn't bear seeing what is happening to my relatives happen here too."