Brexit has made supply chain "bottlenecks" worse in the UK, according to the independent financial watchdog that provides the government with data.

Britain needs 100,000 more drivers if it is to meet demand, according to the UK's Road Haulage Association (RHA). The signs are already there: sporadic gaps on supermarket shelves, pubs running low on beer, McDonald's suspending milkshakes.

One of the UK’s biggest business lobby groups has hit back at government advice to invest in domestic workers, saying the move will not solve short-term labour shortages that are increasingly putting retailers and supply chains under pressure.

Labour said the revelations "blow apart" the "myth" that UK-EU trade disruption is a temporary problem.

As gaps continue to appear on supermarkets shelves and restaurants take unavailable items off menus, Britain’s supply chains appear to be at the centre of a perfect storm of pandemic disruption coupled with post-Brexit labour shortages.

Big names KFC, Pret, Lidl, Co-Op, M&S, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Asda and McDonald's have signed a damning letter warning food supplies could run short - read it in full.

The boss of British cleaning products maker McBride (MCB.L) warned an "extraordinary" rise in the cost of raw materials such as cardboard and solvents would last for "quite some time" as the company reported an 18% fall in annual earnings on Tuesday.

McDonald’s says it has pulled milkshakes from the menu in all 1,250 of its British restaurants because of supply problems stemming from a shortage of truck drivers