Pinney’s plant was closed down last year by its parent company Young’s, which moved its salmon production to Grimsby, England.

The Scottish Government, through its economic development agency Scottish Enterprise, has granted £1.7m in funding to the company. The regional selective assistance grant will help the company ‘to expand its European interests to Scotland’.

Rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing said: “This is great news for the people of Annan, and for the south of Scotland more generally.

“I’m delighted that an international company like Bhagat Holdings has chosen to invest in Scotland, with the immediate creation of a significant number of jobs, which will make a real difference to local people and the local economy.”

Bhagat Holdings has pledged to invest £9m in the site and plans to create an initial 120 jobs, with potential for more employment opportunities in future. Production work at the site is expected to start this autumn.

Bhagat Holdings managing director Keshav Bhagat said: “We’re thrilled with the site in Annan as it’s ideal for our ambitious Bread Crumb, Dry Mixes, Fish & Chicken Coating operations. We know there’s a highly skilled local workforce that can help us grow our business, and that’s one of the key reasons we chose to locate in Scotland.

“Our employees are at the heart of what we do and that’s why I’m very pleased to confirm that our jobs will pay above the Scottish Government’s Living Wage.”