Britain should be braced for a spate of violent protests and counter-protests this autumn if the UK crashes out of the EU, according to the government’s preparations.

The Yellowhammer document claims there “may also be a rise in public disorder and community tensions”.

Police chiefs have spent months drawing up contingency plans to deal with widespread civil disorder at the country’s borders and ports in the event of a no-deal.

A report prepared by the National Police Coordination Centre, which was leaked to The Sunday Times last year, warned that “necessity to call on military assistance is a real possibility” in the weeks around Britain’s departure from the EU.

It also claimed that a no-deal Brexit could lead to a rise in crime, particularly theft