Theresa May lashed back at Jean-Claude Juncker tonight after poisonous briefings claiming she is clueless about Brexit negotiation.

The PM insisted the EU chief is finding out she is a 'bloody difficult woman' amid signs that relations with Brussels are plunging to new lows.

A bitter row has erupted after a detailed account of a dinner between Mrs May and Mr Juncker was leaked to a German newspaper.

Dismissing the briefing as 'Brussels gossip' tonight, Mrs May - who has spent the day campaigning in the West Country - highlighted Tory grandee Ken Clarke's grudging praise of her as a 'bloody difficult woman'.

'I think what we've seen recently is that at times these negotiations are going to be tough,' she told the BBC.

'Now during the Conservative Party leadership campaign I was described by one of my colleagues as a bloody difficult woman. And I said at the time the next person to find that out will be Jean-Claude Juncker.'

Row: Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker discussed Brexit at a working dinner in No 10 last week (pictured) - but EU sources have repeatedly leaked details from inside talks

Theresa May, pictured at an election event in Cornwall today, has brushed off the leaks about her meeting with Mr Juncker last week as 'Brussels gossip'

Asked if he had found that out in their meeting, Mrs May said: 'What I have done is set out a very clear picture of what I want to see from a Brexit deal for the United Kingdom.'

The pair clashed over how the talks will be conducted, including whether the UK must immediately agree to pay a divorce bill and when rights for expats will be settled.

Guy Verhofstadt, the EU parliament's chief negotiator has waded into the row today

Mr Verhofstadt accused the Prime Minister of not 'understanding' the scale of the fight she faces in the looming negotiations

The EU parliament's chief Brexit negotiator, Guy Verhofstadt, has ramped up tensions by demanding Mrs May 'get real' and saying she did not yet 'understand' the scale of the fight she faces.

Tory Eurosceptics have accused the EU of trying to 'bluff' its way out of a weak negotiating position and claim that Mr Juncker is bent on trying to 'punish' Britain for voting Leave last year.

Mrs May and Mr Juncker are said to have clashed repeatedly during the working dinner in Downing Street last Wednesday night.

Theresa May made a stop at a chip shop in Mevagissey, Cornwall, today as she rallied the Tory troops in the West Country.

The PM seemed to be uncertain about how she should eat her snack with the cameras trained on her

Mr Verhofstatdt posted on Twitter today: 'Any deal requires a strong & stable understanding of the complex issues involved.

'The clock is ticking - it's time to get real.'

An EU source claimed Mr Juncker was 'vexed' that the Prime Minister refused to sign off the EU's mid-term review of its annual budget until after the June general election.

It means that without unanimous from all EU nations approval the spending plans, including a proposal to send more money to Africa to stem the flow of migrants, is 'frozen'.

The source told the BBC's Europe editor Katya Adler that Britain has a 'completely different reading' of the Brexit situation compared to Brussels.

'They gave Juncker no warning at all and told him the night before he came to dinner. They have no idea how Brussels works', he said.

Another source close to the EU negotiation team said: 'The word 'echec' [French for failure] came up several times.

The report in a German newspaper suggested the President of the European Commission emerged from the dinner describing Mrs May as 'delusional' and saying he was 'ten times more sceptical' about the prospect of securing a deal.

The detailed account – thought to have come from Mr Juncker's chief of staff Martin Selmayr, who is nicknamed 'the monster' by his boss – was seen as an attempt to undermine Mrs May.

He was said to have concluded that the chances of the talks failing were now 'over 50 per cent'.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats seized on the report to claim the PM was 'complacent' about a 'disastrous' Brexit.

While the row with the EU raged on, Mrs May was out campaigning in Cornwall today

Mrs May and Mr Juncker embraced in Downing Street last Wednesday ahead of the dinner to discuss the Brexit talks - she says that the leaks are merely gossip by pro-Brexit MPs say that the leaks are malicious

The working dinner, which included Mr Juncker (second left) and chief negotiator Michel Barnier (second right) at Downing Street broke up after around 90 minutes (pictured) and has been described by Brussels sources as a disaster

Mrs May dismissed the reports, pointing out that they were at odds with the Commission's public description of the meeting as 'constructive'.

Mrs Merkel (pictured at the EU summit in Brussels on Saturday) voted with the other EU leaders to take a hard line position on the Brexit talks

But she also said the incident proved the negotiations 'are at times going to be tough' and showed the need for her 'strong and stable leadership'.

'There will be 27 countries on one side and of course there is the UK negotiating for the UK,' Mrs May said.

'I believe that we can get a deal that's good for the UK and good for the rest of the European Union.

'But how much more important is .. to actually ensure that we have the strong and stable leadership here in the United Kingdom to stand up for the UK, to fight for the UK and to get the best possible deal.

'There's only a choice of one of two be able to do that.

'It's either going to be me or Jeremy Corbyn.'

Government officials also said they 'did not recognise the account' of the meeting with Mr Juncker.

The report claimed Mrs May and Mr Juncker clashed repeatedly during the working dinner in Downing Street last Wednesday night. The PM said that the UK was not obliged to pay an estimated £52billion divorce bill, German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported.

She also reiterated her desire to 'make Brexit a success', only for Mr Juncker to reply: 'Brexit cannot be a success'. After the Prime Minister raised the prospect of settling a deal on the rights of EU and British citizens living abroad in June, Mr Juncker reportedly said: 'I think you are underestimating this, Theresa.'

He is also said to have produced copies of Croatia's EU entry agreement and the Canadian free trade deal in frustration to emphasise the complexity of such deals.

According to the report, Mr Juncker phoned Angela Merkel following the dinner to complain about the Prime Minister's approach, telling her 'Theresa May is living on another galaxy, she is deluding herself.'

In a seemingly orchestrated move, the intervention is said to have prompted the German Chancellor to warn the UK about the 'illusions' of securing a good deal.

The dinner was held to discuss plans for Brexit talks before EU leaders met to finalise negotiating demands on Saturday.

In a show of unity, the bloc's leaders took just minutes to sign off the blueprint before firing a volley of warnings at Mrs May ahead of talks.