MPs could be given a second vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal as early as next week, Philip Hammond has said.

In comments likely to fuel speculation that a revised agreement with the EU is close, the chancellor said another "meaningful vote" could take place before the end of February if progress is made in talks this week.

Theresa May has promised to give MPs some form of vote on Brexit by 27 February but is under heavy pressure from pro-EU ministers to put a revised deal before the Commons and rule out a no-deal Brexit.

No10 is hopeful that such a vote could happen by the end of February if talks with the EU this week go well. If not, MPs would simply debate what should happen in relation to Brexit and would vote on an amendable motion.

Senior backbenchers would use that opportunity to try to pass a plan that would force the government to hold a vote on extending Article 50 if no deal is in place by mid-March.

Amid reports of progress in negotiations with Brussels, Mr Hammond told BBC Breakfast: "There may be an opportunity to bring a vote back to the House of Commons but that will depend on progress that is made over the next few days. These discussions are ongoing."

He added: "If we do not have a meaningful vote next week there will be another amendable motion tabled which will allow the House of Commons to once again debate how it wants to go forward.

"We have got frankly a problem in the House of Commons. The House of Commons knows what it is against - it is absolutely against a no-deal exit but it has struggled to come up with a clear message to the government about what it, as a House of Commons, wants as a way forward to avoid that outcome."

He later told BBC Radio 4's Today that Ms May was "making progress" and was "crafting a package" that would address concerns on the controversial Northern Ireland backstop, as well as Labour demands for more concrete guarantees on worker and environmental rights.

Mr Hammond dismissed claims made by Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston, who resigned from the Conservatives on Wednesday, that hardline Eurosceptics were in control of Tory party.

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Of the European Research Group of Tory Eurosceptics, he said: "There is a small hardcore that have a very hardline view and are not likely to be flexible or want to compromise"

But he denied the group was "winning", saying this was "clearly not the case" given the government's commitment to securing a Brexit deal.

Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, and Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general, will hold fresh talks with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels on Thursday.

Ms May will travel to an EU-Arab League summit in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, on Sunday to hold further talks with EU leaders.

The prime minister met European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday as part of her efforts to convince the EU to offer fresh guarantees on the backstop.

In a joint statement released afterwards, the two leaders said they had held "constructive" talks on "which guarantees could be given with regard to the backstop that underline once again its temporary nature".