Nissan is "in the dark" about the UK's impending departure from the EU, the chairman and CEO of the Renault-Nissan alliance has said.

Carlos Ghosn told the BBC it was "difficult to take a position not knowing what Brexit will look like".

He said Nissan made about 500,000 cars last year, and that 80 per cent of them were exported.

"We have said very clearly we want to maintain the competitiveness of the UK, particularly in our case because we represent one third of the total car production of the UK in our plant in Sunderland," he said.

"Obviously for us the stakes are very high, but it's difficult to tell you what kind of decision we're going to take without knowing exactly what is Brexit."

Nissan is just the latest business to express concern over Brexit. The past week has been marked by a number of business expressing concerns over the slow progress of talks and the lack of clarity over what deal will be struck with the EU.

Airbus warned last week it could leave the UK if there is no transition deal involving ongoing membership of the single market and customs union, prompting the health secretary Jeremy Hunt to brand the remarks "completely inappropriate".

Pressure on the prime minister to offer clarity to businesses on both side of the Brexit divide has been heating up after she received letters from pro-EU and pro-Brexit groups. Both warned that the time in the negotiations was running out.