The introduction of new Brexit checks at the start of the year continued to hamper UK meat exports to the EU in February, new trade figures show.

A "perfect storm" of Covid impacts and post-Brexit bureaucracy threaten to plunge British pig farmers into a crisis, an industry body has warned.

Lucrative live shellfish trade also hit hard, with consultation over further restrictions on live animal exports ending soon.

The British economy is beginning to understand what it is to be tipped over the cliff edge. Cries of alarm and distress flares are going up across the length and breadth of the country, and from industries as diverse as fishing and finance and from pigs to paint.

Farmers say Brexit has created tremendous trade hurdles, warning of a ‘crisis’ ahead.

The National Pig Association (NPA) has written to Defra Secretary George Eustice over Brexit upheavals.

‘Like a ghost town’: Food boss laments collapse in trade at fish market as exports to EU face barriers.

The UK food industry said the main impact of such a departure from the bloc will be on fresh produce, such as fruit and vegetables, which cannot be stockpiled by retailers or consumers and are largely imported from the EU during the winter months.

Future trade deals with the US must not allow imports of pork that would fail to meet British production standards, the National Pig Association (NPA) has warned.