COUNCIL bosses have warned a no-deal Brexit could lead to risks around food and product safety.

Blackburn with Darwen Council’s executive member for environment, Cllr Jim Smith, said if border controls are relaxed to ease the flow of goods, the system could be exploited.

Cllr Smith will update members on preparations at a council forum meeting next week.

He said: “The Public Protection Service has been assessing the potential impact of a no-deal Brexit on the service, based on the available Government guidance, to feed into the corporate preparations.

"Short term, no significant changes to legislation are anticipated, beyond renaming it; therefore, while the provisions will remain the same, all legal documentation referring to European Commission directives will have to be updated to remain valid.

"As legislation does change in the medium term, significant officer time is likely to be lost to training.

“Medium term, there are concerns about potential risks posed by any decision to relax border controls to ease the flow of goods, and the areas of food and product safety are a particular concern.

"Should this happen, it could be exploited by serious and organised crime gangs to increase the importation of illicit goods.

“Public Protection will continue to monitor the situation and report any deterioration of standards in the respective markets.”

Nationally, Theresa May is facing a backlash from MPs as she heads to Brussels to appeal to EU leaders to grant her a delay to Brexit, amid warnings of "extreme unpredictability" if the impasse is not resolved.

The Prime Minister's Downing Street statement, in which she blamed MPs for failing to implement the result of the 2016 EU referendum and told frustrated voters "I am on your side", was described as a "low blow" by one former Tory minister.

No 10 defended her comments, saying they had been intended as a "message to the public" to explain why she had decided to seek an extension to the Article 50 withdrawal process.

Jeremy Corbyn was also under fire after pulling out of a meeting between Mrs May and opposition party leaders because party defectors who are now members of the Independent Group turned up.

The behaviour of the Labour leader, who was also heading to Brussels on Thursday to hold talks with EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, was described by one of their number - Chuka Umunna - as "juvenile" at a time of national crisis.

With just eight days before the UK is due to leave the EU, the Prime Minister made the case for extending the Article 50 withdrawal process to June 30 at a Brussels summit.