Northern Ireland risks being swamped by thousands of litres of raw milk after a no-deal Brexit, farmers have claimed.

Livestock owners have warned they would be obliged to keep milking their cows without any means of processing or legally disposing of the product - meaning huge amounts could ultimately go to waste.

Mike Johnston, the head of Dairy Council Northern Ireland, said that businesses had received no guidance from the Government on how they would break out of the looming "vicious circle".

If the UK leaves the European Union without a deal, farmers say they would need to keep milking cows to prevent them from developing infections, but would be unable to send milk over the Irish border for processing in the south because of costly red tape.

Mr Johnston said the excess milk could not be diverted to Great Britain because it lacks capacity to process it, and they could not resort to spraying the milk on fields either due to environmental rules.

Meanwhile, there is a limited amount of slurry storage in Northern Ireland for raw milk. The space required would be substantial given that some farms produce 1.5m litres of milk annually.

Boris Johnson has vowed to leave the EU on Oct 31 with or without a Brexit deal, even though Parliament has passed legislation that forces him to seek an extension.