Two brothers who had tried to sell 17,700 bottles of hand sanitizer at inflated prices in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak are now giving the bottles away after their venture failed.

Matt and Noah Colvin of Hixson, Tenneseee, drove thousands of miles to pick up as many bottles of the handwash as they could after the first death was recorded in the US, earlier this year – spending between $10,000 (£8,000) and $15,000 (£11,500) on their haul.

With people panicking over the outbreak, the plan was to sell the $1 (80p) bottles for an inflated price of $70 (£54) each.

However, after Amazon blocked their account and stopped the sales, they were unable to get rid of them.

Following online criticism for their scheme, which was reported in The New York Times, the pair have now donated it all to a charity.

Writing on social media ahead of the giveaway, Matt said: “The Hand Sanitizer in the NYT story is being donated to a local church and first responders tomorrow.”

When he was interviewed by the publication, Matt said he had nothing to say sorry for and that he was only filling a gap in the market.

Asked if he would apologise for buying so much sanitiser after seeing families struggling to buy just one, he said: “No, I don’t think I would.”

After the first death was recorded in the US, earlier this year, the brothers stashed copious amounts of hand sanitiser – spending between $10,000 (£8,000) and $15,000 (£11,500) on their haul.

Speaking to WRCB, Matt said: “The bulk of it was purchased just driving around to retail stores in the Chattanooga area.

“The pricing on Amazon was definitely higher than retail.”

He claimed last week that he had sold two-pack sets for $20 (£16), but admitted he had charged as much as $125 (£100) for a ten-pack.

The dad said the cost of delivering the items, as well as the cut taken by Amazon, ate into his profits.

He said: “Just because it cost me $2 in the store doesn’t mean it’s not going to cost me $16 to get it to your door.”