EDINBURGH (AFP) - Scots are stockpiling their national soft drink Irn Bru ahead of the introduction of a new low-sugar recipe later this month.

Ryan Allen, from Ayr on Scotland's west coast, has launched a "Hands Off Our Irn Bru" campaign to try to stop the new recipe being rolled out in late January (2018).

He told the BBC: "I've got 24 glass bottles in my loft that will do me for emergencies." Allen's petition has received over 12,000 signatures since it was launched online in December.

Irn Bru's "secret recipe" was introduced by AG Barr in 1901 but changing consumer tastes and the forthcoming implementation of a sugar tax in April have forced the company to reformulate the recipe.

The sugar content of a can of Irn Bru will be cut from eight and a half teaspoons to four, cutting the calorie count from around 140 calories to approximately 65 calories.

Others appear to be following Allen's lead in stockpiling the original recipe.

"Asda have 8 packs of Irn Bru for £2. Am goin' to panic buy," student nurse Hannah Paterson tweeted, referencing the British supermarket chain Asda.

Also writing on Twitter, Dale Torrance said: "Tomorrow's plan is to buy about 20 crates of Irn Bru before this new recipe comes in... I hate sugar tax."

An AG Barr spokesman said: "From January 2018, Irn-Bru will continue to be made using the same secret Irn-Bru flavour essence, but with less sugar.

"The vast majority of our drinkers want to consume less sugar so that's what we're now offering.

"We know that our loyal drinkers love Irn-Bru for its unique great taste and we've worked hard to deliver this.

"We ran lots of taste tests that showed most people can't tell the difference - nine out of 10 regular Irn-Bru drinkers told us we had a good or excellent taste match."