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Tory ministers are drawing up plans to send in the Army if there is a No Deal Brexit , it emerged today.

Troops, helicopters and trucks could spring into action to move vital food, medicines and fuel if border controls break down.

The shock report comes after ministers admitted they are considering the stockpiling of medicines and food supplies.

Today leading doctors warned the treatment of thousands of cancer patients could be delayed, risking their lives, if there's no agreement by March 2019.

"Medical isotopes" help around 10,000 patients a year but could become snarled up in border checks, experts warned the Mail on Sunday.

Dr Jeanette Dickson, of the Royal College of Radiologists, said: "These medicines are like a burning fuse.

(Image: Christopher Furlong)

"They start off with a certain amount of radioactivity and you have a set time to get them to hospital when they are still effective.

"If you delay them for a fews hours, you begin to lost activity."

Meanwhile supermarket giant Aldi reportedly emailed suppliers asking them to "help understand potential implications" and "mitigate any negative impacts" of No Deal.

That prompted one anonymous coffee supplier to consider keeping up to eight weeks' stock instead of four, according to the Sunday Times.

And a supermarket chairman told the newspaper: "We're probably still a few months off, but there will come a point in this calendar year where, if people are going to book extra warehouse space or make additional transport arrangements, they will have to start doing it because there isn't unlimited capacity."

Aldi has not commented on the reports.

(Image: Derby Telegraph)

Brexit talks remain in deadlock ahead of an October deadline, forcing the UK government to ramp up backup plans for No Deal.

Imperial College London research in March claimed there would be 29-mile, five-hour tailbacks to Dover if the time to clear customs paperwork doubled from two minutes to just four.

And plans are being considered to turn the M26 motorway - a key artery to the Kent port - could be turned into a 10-mile lorry park for 1,400 trucks.

(Image: PA)

The Sunday Times quoted a minister talking of Army involvement. The minister said: "There is a lot of civil contingency planning around the prospect of no deal.

"That's not just frightening the horses, that's just being utterly realistic."

A Ministry of Defence source told the newspaper there had been no formal request for Army involvement, but admitted "a blueprint for us supporting the civilian authorities can be dusted off."

Theresa May has described No Deal preparations as "sensible" and said people should take "comfort" from them.

Meanwhile it is reported there will no longer be a weekly publication of "No Deal Brexit" warnings after disagreement in government.

The 70 or so "technical notices" will now be published on a single day in late August, according to the Sunday Times.