The Conservatives are on course to lose control of councils across the country next month, Theresa May has been warned, as Ukip returns from the “dead” on the back of mounting anger over delay to Brexit.

Council leaders have told The Sunday Telegraph they are preparing for heavy losses in the local elections, amid fears voters are turning on the party for failing to take the UK out of the European Union on time.

They warn that Tory councils in Leave-voting heartlands, including Peterborough and Southend-on-Sea, will be fighting for “survival” and could see their majorities wiped out in May.

Their concerns have been echoed by education minister Nadhim Zahawi, who warned Mrs May on Saturday she would be signing the “suicide note” of the Conservative Party if the UK went ahead with European elections in May.

Mr Zahawi said further delay posed an “existential threat” to the party and would result in a “seismic” political shift, with voters abandoning the centre ground for the hard-left and far-right.

"If we do not deliver Brexit we would be unleashing forces that I think could get this country, and indeed the rest of Europe, into a very bad place,” he added.