Theresa May will use her first European Council to warn that Britain’s vote to leave the EU must be respected and that there will be no second referendum.

The Prime Minister will on Thursday tell leaders over dinner that she is “absolutely clear” that Britain will leave the European Union as she seeks to dispel suggestions in “certain quarters” that the UK could stay in.

She will also say that she wants both a “strong Britain” and a “strong European Union” after Brexit, and stress that it is in everyone’s interests that the process is “smooth and orderly”.

Mrs May on Wednesday admitted that Brexit negotiations may take longer than two years, meaning that the UK may not leave the EU until after April 2019.