British supermarket group Morrison has withdrawn sliced cold meats from two stores in Scotland after an outbreak of E coli in the area killed an elderly person and left two seriously ill in hospital.

"We are currently working closely with the authorities and although the full facts are not yet known, we have, as a precautionary measure, withdrawn sliced cold meat products from sale at the delicatessen counters of two stores in Paisley, Scotland," Britain's fourth-biggest grocer said on Tuesday.

"We advise anyone who has bought sliced cold meat products locally from the delicatessen counters in these two stores not to consume them," it said in a statement. "No other products or Morrisons stores are involved in this investigation."

At 0735 GMT, Morrison shares were down 3.2 percent at 257.5 pence, the biggest fall on the UK's benchmark FTSE-100 index and valuing the business at about 7 billion pounds ($14.2 billion).

"There is no conclusive evidence yet but initial investigations have indicated that there may possibly be a link to the consumption of some sliced cold meats bought locally from the delicatessen counters of two Morrisons supermarkets in Paisley," the state-run National Health Service for Glasgow and Clyde said in a statement.

Morrison said public health authorities including The Public Health Protection Unit (PHPU) were investigating an outbreak of E coli 0157 in the Paisley area of Glasgow.

"We are deeply saddened to hear that an elderly patient has died and two other people are seriously ill in hospital," it said.

E coli is a common bug which is present everywhere in the environment. Mostly it helps people to stay healthy. But some strains -- such as the O157 strain -- are potentially fatal.