There have long been fears that robots may one day take over the world.

But concerns that they will take over the job market may have been lessened thanks to an experiment in Scotland.

‘Fabio’ was the first robotic retail assistant to be employed there but was let go after one week.

‘Fabio’ the robotic retail assistant (pictured) was let go after one week

The ‘ShopBot’ had been developed by Heriot-Watt University and was seen attempting to fulfil his duties at upmarket store Margiotta, in Edinburgh.

At first he got off to a good start, charming customers with high fives, hugs and greetings of ‘hello gorgeous’.

But it wasn’t long before viewers of BBC’s Six Robots & US were forced to watch him struggle.

Within a few days Fabio began irritating and confusing shoppers at the flagship store.

When one asked which aisle the beer could be found, Fabio gave a vague answer - ‘It’s in the alcohol section’.

And despite his best efforts, the background noise in the busy supermarket made it difficult for him to understand customers.

The ‘ShopBot’ was developed by Heriot-Watt University and was seen attempting to fulfil his duties at upmarket store Margiotta, in Edinburgh

Aware that the first day at a new job can be stressful for anybody, his understanding employees moved him from the aisles to a sampling role.

But the robot became too enthusiastic when asked to hand out portions of pulled pork - alarming customers as they fled from him.

‘We thought a robot was a great addition to show the customers that we are always wanting to do something new and exciting,’ said Elena Margiotta, who runs the chain of shops with father Franco and sister Luisa.

But it wasn’t long before Fabio was noticeably outperformed by his human colleagues.

While he managed to persuade two people to try a pork snack, his colleagues racked up a total of twelve.

‘Unfortunately Fabio didn’t perform as well as we had hoped,’ said Luisa.

‘People seemed to be actually avoiding him.’ The robot also struggled to move around the shop fluidly and had difficulty in directing customers to the items they were looking for.

‘We thought a robot was a great addition to show the customers that we are always wanting to do something new and exciting,’ said Elena Margiotta, who co-runs the shop

But it wasn’t long before Fabio was noticeably outperformed by his human colleagues

Sadly his bosses were left with no other choice than to let him go.

And when Franco had to tell the eager robot that they would not be renewing his contract, Fabio asked: ‘Are you angry?’ It was an emotional moment for the staff and some were reduced to tears when he was packed away and shipped back to the university.

In his short time at the store, Fabio had clearly become a well-liked member of the team.

Dr Oliver Lemon, director of the Interaction Lab at Heriot-Watt, said he was surprised by the reaction his invention got.

‘One of things we didn’t expect was the people working in the shop became quite attached to it.’ ‘It was good in a way, because we thought the opposite would happen and they would feel threatened by it because it was competing for their job,’ he added.

Sadly his bosses were left with no other choice than to let him go

And Dr Lemon was keen to stress that Fabio’s brief work placement had not been a complete failure.

‘In actual fact they [staff] thought it was an enhancement because it was able to deal with frequent and boring requests, like customers constantly asking where things are, which I think they found quite helpful.’ But Luisa Margiotta remains sceptical.

‘We find our customers love a personal interaction and speaking to our staff is a big part of that,’ she said.

‘Our staff members know our regulars very well and can have conversations on a daily a basis, and I doubt robots would be able to fulfil this.

‘It is possible, I believe, that robots could assist with roles such as warehouse-based tasks, but I doubt they will ever eliminate the need for human interaction.’