The booze cruise to Calais is making a comeback. Retailers in the French ferry port are reporting a surge in sales as British shoppers stock up on wine before the Brexit deadline on March 29.

Many shoppers fear Brexit will lead to higher wine prices in the UK and the Calais Wine Superstore said its sales have surged by more than 50 per cent since January. Pre-orders have doubled.

Majestic Wine’s two Calais stores saw a 49 per cent increase in sales last month, with pre-orders for March up 78 per cent.

Marco Attard, co-owner of the Calais Wine Superstore, told the Telegraph: “People are just filling their boots up. Business has just gone mad. It’s like in the old days when there were queues outside off-licences.”

Mr Attard said shoppers wanted to take advantage of lower French alcohol prices while they still could. “It’s definitely because of Brexit. We have no political view but we’ve done quite a lot marketing around Brexit and we’re amazed by the response. People don’t want to miss out. I've never seen anything like it.”