Theresa May insisted her Chequers blueprint for Brexit was not "dead" hours before she travelled to Brussels to address EU leaders at a crucial summit.

Tackling Ms May at the weekly session of prime minister's questions, Jeremy Corbyn noted she had not mentioned "Chequers" in either her conference speech or in a recent update to the Commons on the state of the negotiations.

But, in her reply, Ms May said: "He asked me if the Chequers plan was dead, the answer is no."

Arriving at the EU summit, the prime minister said she believes a deal on the UK's orderly withdrawal from the EU remains "achievable", despite the deadlock in negotiations.

Ms May was due to address leaders of the 27 remaining EU states before they discuss Brexit in her absence at the European Council on Wednesday evening.

But leaders were openly saying that there would be "no breakthrough" at the summit, which was long billed as the "moment of truth" when a deal must be done to give time for ratification by the date of Brexit on March 29.