The Gordon Ramsay Restaurant Group has terminated the contracts of hundreds of staff members after closing due to the coronavirus.

The group ceased the employment of employees working across its London restaurants on Wednesday.

Letters sent to team members informed them their contacts would be terminated and they will be paid a four-week notice period, before directing them to Hospitality Action, a support charity, for help.

The move is contrary to the Government’s recommendation, which urged businesses to retain and look after staff before the new Job Retention Scheme, which will cover 80 per cent of wages for a minimum of three months, is rolled out.

But the group has instead opted to let staff go, just days after Gordon Ramsay himself paid tribute to his London team on social media.

He said on March 21: “Huge love and thanks to our amazing staff across the restaurants for all their passion and support. I truly hope we are back together very soon.”

A spokesperson told the Daily Mail: “Gordon Ramsay Restaurants is continuing to work tirelessly in exceptional, unprecedented, global circumstances to ensure that as many employees as possible are being retained by the business.

“We are no different from any other restaurant/retail business large and small in the UK and around the world responding to the current crisis.

“We welcome greatly and fully support all the initiatives introduced by Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak in particular the coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which is still being refined.

“We continue to work closely with our landlords, government agencies and all third-party suppliers associated with the business through these very challenging times.”