IRN-BRU maker AG Barr has moved to reassure panic-stricken Scots that their other natural drink will still contain huge amounts of sugar.

The drinks firm took to social media yesterday after the nation’s shops were inundated with worried fans stockpiling cans and bottles ahead of new recipe irn-Bru hitting the shelves later this month.

The change will see 50 per cent less sugar in every drink of Irn Bru, and Scots are anxious and angry about the change, and thousands of people have signed a petition.

George Osborne’s sugar tax, announced in Spring 2016, is due to come into force in April and the iconic Cumbernauld fizzy pop company has been forced to choose between lowering the amount of sugar in their juice, or face having to add 8p to the cost of a can.

In their statement, Barr said: “We know a lot of people are concerned right now about the changes to Irn-Bru. “We understand but we want to reassure you of a few things.

“Irn-Bru will still be made with the same secret flavour essence as it’s always been. So it’ll have its unique taste. This isn’t changing and it never will.

“Irn-Bru will still be a sugary drink. We’re reducing the sugar, not losing it all together. There will still be about 4 teaspoons of sugar in a can.

“We’ve done a shed-load of taste test on this. In these test, 9 out of 10 people said we’ve got excellent or a good taste match.

“We know we won’t convince everyone right now. But when you try it, we hope you’ll agree it still tastes amazing.”

By the time of going to print a petition against the reduction in sugar had amassed more than 25,000 signatures.

A petition in favour of the change had just the one signature.

Even celebrities were gnashing teeth at the prospect of the change.

“This pleases me not” tweeted Strictly Come Dancing winner Joe McFadden.

Ex-Ranger boss Ally McCoist said the change was just “not good enough!”

Speaking on Alan Brazil’s breakfast show on Talk Sport, he said the drink had to be “saved.”

McCoist said: “The public will not be having this.

“My mate is an accountant with Barrs – get it sorted out son, it’s not good enough.

“It’s the best hangover cure.

“We have to save Irn-Bru.”

The so-called Sugar Tax will will see firms forced to pay the Treasury for drinks containing more than 5g of sugar per 100 millilitres.

Irn Bru currently has 10.3g of sugar per 100 millilitres. The new tax would see the North Lanarkshire drinks firm forced to put an extra 24p into the Treasury’s coffers for every litre of original recipe juice they produce.

The levy was one of the final acts of George Osborne as Chancellor of the Exchequer, made during his final budget in the spring of 2016.

Ryan Allen, who started the Hands Off Our Irn Bru campaign, said: "It is a national treasure in Scotland and really is part of our culture with its unique taste, branding and marketing.

"It's also well known to alleviate the effects of a hangover and is many a persons' craving, saviour or go-to drink after a night on the tiles.

"Don't do it Barr - please have a rethink on this."

Unlike Irn Bru, Coca-Cola has refused to back down. Their original drink will continue to keep all 35g of sugar in each 330ml can.

In 2016, more than one in ten children in Scotland aged between 2 and 15 were at risk of obesity, with a further 15 per cent at risk of overweight.