Britain has a "realistic" chance of agreeing a Brexit deal with Brussels within 6 to 8 weeks, the EU's chief negotiator said today.

Michel Barnier's comments will give hope to Theresa May, who has ramped up 'no deal Brexit ' planning amid the threat of not agreeing a deal in time.

The Prime Minister is hoping to win the approval of 27 fellow EU leaders at a crunch European Council summit in mid-October.

Key issues like the Northern Ireland border and customs remain in deadlock exactly 200 days before Brexit Day on 29 March 2019.

But Mr Barnier told a forum in Slovenia: "I think that if we are realistic, we are able to reach an agreement on the first stage of this negotiation - which is the Brexit treaty - within 6 or 8 weeks."

EU leaders are now poised to announce an extraordinary Brexit summit to take place in mid-November, the Guardian reported today.

That would give Mr Barnier - and Mrs May - more time and flexibility to reach a deal in time.

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He added: "Taking into account the time necessary for the ratification process - the House of Commons on one side, the European Parliament and Council on the other side - we must reach an agreement before the beginning of November.

"I think it’s possible."

Sterling jumped to a five-week high of $1.31 on the report, up around 1% on the day, and rose around 0.5% against the euro.

Mr Barnier said he still "regret[s] profoundly" the Brexit vote but added: "UK decided in a sovereign vote to leave.

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"We can regret this vote but we have to respect it because it was a democratic decision and we have to implement it."

He added “we are not far from agreement”, with 80% to 85% of issues already in common ground between the UK and Brussels, and "we want a deal".

But in a warning shot to Britain, he reiterated that “we have the last word” in the European Parliament - and therefore could kill a deal.

And he said "we have to solve this issue of Ireland" within six to eight weeks.

The intervention comes after Theresa May was warned she risks a “catastrophic split” in her party if she persists with her version of Brexit.

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Up to 80 Conservative MPs are set to vote it down, a former minister warned.

Leading Leave backer Steve Baker, who quit as a Brexit Minister who the PM’s Chequers blueprint, said she faces “a massive problem” at this month’s party conference in Birmingham because of the scale of opposition to Chequers among grassroots members.

He said: “If we come out of conference with her hoping to get Chequers through on the back of Labour votes, I think the EU negotiators would probably understand that if that were done, the Tory party would suffer the catastrophic split which thus far we have managed to avoid.”

Mr Barnier today said he had “great respect” for PM Theresa May and the country of the UK.

But asked if he had the same respect for Boris Johnson - who likened her Brexit plan to a "suicide vest" - Mr Barnier left a dramatic pause before saying carefully: “For this country”.

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He added: "I don’t want to be involved in the debate in the UK. This debate is very intense, it is very stimulating… but I don’t want to be involved."

Responding to Mr Barnier's comments, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "We have said ourselves that we are focused on securing a deal in October and that continues to be what we are working towards."