Emergency no-deal Brexit planning in the UK has been ramped up at a key government department responsible for food supply, with officials now working 24 hours a day to minimise potential disruption.

HuffPost UK has learnt that the European Union Exit Emergency Centre (EUXE), based in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), has intensified operations this week amid fears of a potential accidental no-deal Brexit on Friday.

A no-deal Brexit would see tariffs imposed on goods travelling to and from the EU and the introduction of customs checks, potentially causing major delays at ports.

EUXE staff have therefore moved on to around the clock shifts while Defra policy teams are prioritising exit work in areas like ensuring an adequate food supply and that livestock, waste and other imports and exports to do not get stuck at the border.

Prime Minister Theresa May is hoping EU leaders will grant a short delay to Brexit at a crunch Wednesday summit but French President Emmanuel Macron is threatening to pull the plug and force the UK to crash out with no deal on Friday.

Macron and other leaders are expected to push for a longer delay to the end of the year with tough conditions imposed on the UK, which the prime minister may find it difficult to accept.