The European Union is damaging the chances of a smooth Brexit by refusing to talk about a future free trade deal, British ministers have claimed.

In a warning shot to Brussels, senior Whitehall sources have told this newspaper that the Continent will be to blame for trade disruption unless they agree to widen talks.

Ministers want the EU to sign off discussions about a free trade deal in October even if there is no agreement on how much Britain will pay in the so-called ‘Brexit bill’.

David Davis has gone public with his concerns over timings, indicating the two-step negotiations process demanded by Brussels could backfire.

“With the clock ticking, it wouldn’t be in either of our interests to run aspects of the negotiations twice,” said Mr Davis, the Brexit Secretary, in a statement issued yesterday.

The comments mark an escalation in the timings row that is likely to dominate the coming months as Brexit negotiations become more advanced.

The UK Government will be publishing a series of position papers on Brexit for the second week in a row after an active summer across Whitehall.

Five papers will come out this week covering goods and services, confidential documents, civil judicial cooperation, dispute resolution and data protection.

The publications - which focus on the technical detail of how Brexit will work - will be discussed at another round of talks at the end of the month.

However they are currently being overshadowed by a bigger row about the EU’s refusal to discuss the future trading relationship after Brexit.

The EU is insisting there must be “sufficient progress” on three topics - EU citizens’ rights, the amount Britain will pay and Northern Ireland - before a free trade deal is discussed.

However Whitehall sources now believe they will soon have ticked that box and believe further delay would unnecessarily damage the chances of an orderly break.

There is particular concern that genuine progress cannot be made without detailed talks about what terms the EU and UK will be trading after Brexit.

A senior Whitehall source said: “The UK Government is getting us into a position where it will become obvious that if there’s a problem when we leave with trade it will be the EU who created it, not the UK.

“The decision has got to be taken about talking about the future relationship at the October EU Council. That’s when it ought to be taken.

“The sensible thing to do is talk about it as soon as possible. It’s pretty obvious some aspects of the Ireland issues can’t be solved until you’re talking about how trade will work across the border.”

Mr Davis said: “In the coming days we will demonstrate our thinking even further, with five new papers - all part of our work to drive the talks forward, and make sure we can show beyond doubt that we have made sufficient progress on withdrawal issues by October so that we can move on to discuss our future relationship.”

The EU Council - which represents the 27 EU countries - has the power to decide when to start talks about a trade deal.

It is hoped the body will agree to widen the remit handed to Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, when it meets in October.

But this is likely to be rebutted by Brussels because the UK has made clear that a figure for how much it will pay to leave the EU is unlikely to be settled by then.

Mr Davis said this week in a BBC Radio Four interview that people should not expect a Brexit bill figure to be made public in either October or November.

Britain is due to formally leave the EU on March 29 2019, though a transition period of up to three years after that will see the changes phased in over time.