Construction materials provider Breedon Group have announced that they will temporarily close all of their UK production sites, including their two Gloucestershire depots.

Breedon, famous for their blue and yellow lorries, operate a concrete plant on Myers Road in Gloucester and a quarry near Naunton in the Cotswolds.

In an announcement to the Stock Exchange this morning, they announced that they will be closing all sites, save for ones that "serve critical supply needs."

The statement said: "In light of recent Government measures, and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our colleagues, subcontractors, customers and communities, we have decided temporarily to suspend production at our UK sites, with the exception of our Hope cement plant and those of our operations which serve critical supply needs.

"During the course of this week we have begun gradually winding down the relevant sites, whilst ensuring that they are in a condition to be quickly and safely brought back online at the appropriate time.

"We welcome the introduction of the UK Government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which should ensure that our UK colleagues continue to receive a proportion of their pay during a period of furlough."

In a further trading update, the group said that the measures introduced this week had seen Breedon suffer an "immediate and significant reduction in demand."

"We will make full use of any government support, including tax reliefs and other forms of financial aid, as they become available," the statement added.

"Given the current economic uncertainty and the as yet unquantifiable longer-term impact of COVID-19 on our trading environment, we are unable to provide accurate market guidance for the current year.

"However, looking further ahead, we have a fundamentally robust and diversified business with traditionally strong cashflow characteristics, and are well positioned to prosper in the long term.

"The pending addition of a high-quality portfolio of assets from CEMEX in the UK will further strengthen our position."