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Theresa May was briefly trapped in her own car today, in an unfortunate metaphor for Brexit.

The Prime Minister had just arrived in Berlin for a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, to discuss the Northern Ireland backstop.

But on her arrival, aides struggled to open the back door of her limousine, lacking a unilateral mechanism to exit from the vehicle.

But the situation turned out to be temporary, and after about 10 seconds she managed to escape.

The Prime Minister finally emerged to shake hands with Mrs Merkel.

(Image: FOCKE STRANGMANN/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock) (Image: REUTERS)

She's due to travel later in the day to Brussels for talks with Mr Juncker and European Council president Donald Tusk.

The Prime Minister has embarked on a whirlwind tour of European capitals to seek reassurances to get her deal through Parliament, after cancelling a vote scheduled for Tuesday which she accepted she would lose heavily.

But she was dealt a blow as European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker declared there was "no room whatsoever for renegotiation" of the Withdrawal Agreement reached last month.

(Image: AFP/Getty Images) (Image: REUTERS)

Mr Juncker told MEPs the agreement was the "best deal possible" and the "only deal possible". But he offered a glimmer of hope to Mrs May by saying there was room to give "further clarifications and further interpretations without opening the Withdrawal Agreement".

The delay to the so-called "meaningful vote" by MPs means that ratification may not be possible until as late as 10 weeks before the scheduled date of Brexit on March 29. But Mrs May's spokesman insisted she continues to believe that necessary preparations can be completed within that time.

The Prime Minister held talks over breakfast with her Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte in The Hague, which Downing Street described as "constructive".

(Image: FILIP SINGER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Mrs May told the Dutch PM that "additional assurances" would be needed on the backstop arrangement to keep the Irish border open after Brexit if the deal was to get through Parliament.

"The leaders agreed that the backstop was only ever intended to be temporary, the Prime Minister set out the concerns held by many about it in the UK," said her spokesman.

"She discussed the need for additional assurances on this point in order for the deal with the EU to pass the House of Commons. The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Rutte agreed to work together to find a way through.