The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has said that it would accept Northern Ireland abiding by some European Union rules after Brexit as part of a new deal to replace the Irish backstop, The Times newspaper reported.

The Northern Ireland party that props up British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government also said privately it would drop its objection to regulatory checks in the Irish Sea, the newspaper reported.

Brussels would in return have to drop its insistence on Northern Ireland remaining in the customs union with the European Union, the report said.