DAIRY business Arla Foods last night announced plans to open a Scottish dairy early next year.

The business, which has processing plants in Northallerton and Newcastle, is opening the dairy at Lockerbie, in Dumfriesshire, in a joint venture with its partner Milk Link, which has a cheese factory on the site.

The initial processing contract will be with supermarket chain Asda.

Neil Davidson, chief executive of Arla Foods UK plc, said: "The new high-tech dairy will employ about 100 people and will be capable of processing around 150 million litres of fresh milk a year.

"The development will considerably strengthen our position in the Scottish market place, enabling us to supply all our major supermarkets and other customers throughout Scotland."