German public confidence in Britain as a reliable ally has collapsed in the face of the current Brexit stand-off, a poll has found.

Only a third of Germans still believe the UK can be trusted, according to the findings — a drop of 17 per cent since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister.

It is the lowest figure ever recorded for the UK by the Deutschland Trend survey for ARD television, which has been tracking German public opinion of key allies since 2007.

And in further evidence Germans mistrust the man known in the popular press here as “Brexit Boris”, more than two-thirds of those polled said they believe relations between Britain and the EU will deteriorate under his premiership.

“Boris Johnson has been leading the British government since last week, and his accession to office has affected the image of the UK in Germany,” Infratest Dimap, the polling company behind the survey, said in its report.

“Hardly anyone believes that relations between the EU and UK can get closer under the new Prime Minister.”