The British Retail Consortium, which represents a number of the UK’s largest supermarket retailers, told MPs it could not understand why Michael Gove had claimed otherwise in a BBC interview at the weekend.

Although fresh food travelling to the UK from the EU will not be subject to border checks, delays could be sparked by checks in France. Such a move would mean perishable fruit and vegetables in particular, such as strawberries, lettuce, tomatoes, could be hit by delays, impacting their freshness when they reach the UK.

The BRC’s director of food and sustainability Andrew Opie told MPs on the Brexit select committee that Brexit “will affect fresh food in various ways – availability, shelf life and potentially cost”.