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A drugs giant is amassing a 14-WEEK medicine stockpile as fears grow of a "nightmare" no deal Brexit .

French firm Sanofi is increasing its current stocks by four weeks in case there is chaos at UK ports when Britain formally leaves the EU at 11pm on 29 March 2019.

It is also transferring some quality control testing from its site in Haverhill, Suffolk, to the other 27 EU nations, cutting 12 jobs.

It came on a day of dramatic developments, as the head of the Food and Drink Federation warned Brexit is "shaping up to be the stuff of nightmares".

Councils UK-wide released a torrent of internal doomsday warnings of the consequences of no deal - including "social unrest" in Bristol, food shortages in Pembrokeshire and a lack of carers in East Sussex.

As Theresa May prepares to cut short her holiday to meet the French President, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned there is a "real risk of a messy divorce".

"Let's not make this one of those moments where a terrible mistake is made which we are still talking about in 20 or 30 years," Mr Hunt said.

(Image: REUTERS) (Image: AFP)

Tweeting as he touched down in Austria for talks, Mr Hunt called for a "pragmatic solution" to Brexit as time ticks down to an October deadline.

Pharmaceutical giant Sanofi is a major supplier of insulin. It has more than 1,750 UK employees making medicines including for diabetics and people with heart conditions.

Today the firm wrote to the Health Secretary and NHS Chief Executive to reveal its actions. UK managing director Hugo Fry said: "The uncertainty in the Brexit negotiations means that Sanofi has been planning for a 'no deal' scenario.

"Patient safety is our main priority.

"We have made arrangements for additional warehouse capacity in order to stockpile our products, where global supply allows, in the UK and increase UK-based resource to prepare for any changes to customs or regulatory processes."

It comes after a second drugs giant, AstraZeneca, warned last month it was increasing its medicine stockpiles by 20% as a "safety net".

And Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said some medicines could be flown in, adding: "We're working with industry to prepare for the potential need for stockpiling in the event of a no-deal Brexit."

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Labour MP Peter Kyle, who backs the People's Vote campaign for a second referendum, said: "There was no warning of drug shortages or a medical crisis on the side of Boris Johnson and Michael Gove’s bus. Nobody voted to put health services at risk in this way."

Prime Minister Theresa May has insisted people should take "comfort" from her decision to ramp up plans for no deal after talks with the EU were deadlocked.

The Tory leader had hoped to solve the main sticking point, customs rules, with a new compromise plan drawn up at Chequers.

But her so-called 'Facilitated Customs Partnership' was first amended by furious Tory Brexiteers, then branded unworkable by Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator.

The compromise plan would have seen the UK sharing a "common rulebook" on goods imports with Brussels, and collecting some tariffs on the EU's behalf.

Meanwhile the Prime Minister is reportedly set for a row with her Home Secretary - after calling for UK-only passport lanes at UK airports. But it's also reported such lanes could end up having even longer queues than EU ones.

Theresa May's Chequers Brexit plan explained The UK's current Brexit plan is based on a deal Theresa May drew up at Chequers, her country retreat, in July 2018. At the time it was seen as a major shift to soft Brexit - prompting hard-Leaver Cabinet ministers David Davis and Boris Johnson to resign. The 'Facilitated Customs Arrangement' is a bid to solve the biggest problem of Brexit - how to stop a hard border between Northern Ireland and either the EU, or the rest of the UK. It would keep the UK closely aligned with the EU in a new "free trade area" for goods. Under this plan, the UK would share a "common rulebook" with Brussels for goods, including agricultural and food products. Britain would also collect some, but not all, customs tariffs on the EU's behalf. Parliament would technically keep the right to block future rules. But Tory Brexiteers said this olive branch would useless in practice. They forced Theresa May to amend the plan to say the EU should collects tariffs on the UK's behalf. Mrs May insisted this didn't scupper her plan. But EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier disagreed, and has continued to suggest there will be a border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Remainers and Labour have also opposed the Chequers plan, saying it leaves Britain half-in-half-out of the EU in the "worst of all worlds". With a November deadline to agree a deal with the EU looming, and the plan facing a vote in Parliament after that, the UK is now ramping up plans to leave in March 2019 with no deal.

Today a food industry boss called for a meeting with the Government as he warned Brexit is becoming "the stuff of nightmares".

Food and Drink Federation (FDF) chief executive Ian Wright urged ministers to explain the implications of a no-deal Brexit to businesses in the industry.

He told the i newspaper: "Brexit is shaping up to be the stuff of nightmares.

"It's essential the Government begins to explain a) to businesses and b) the public exactly what the implications of a no-deal Brexit are."

Around 70 'technical notices' spelling out the consequences of no deal are set to be issued by the government over the coming weeks.

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But councils have jumped the gun by revealing their own draft plans for Brexit.

Sky News obtained the plans from councils the length and breadth of the UK, including one that warned the M20 motorway could be used as a 13-mile lorry park for "many years".

Other town halls are raising concerns about how to provide food, social care, medicines and border controls, as well as potential "social unrest".

Anglesey, home to Holyhead port, is one of several port authorities also concerned about a need for lorry parking after Brexit.

Pembrokeshire County Council's risk register details how new border controls "may affect the ready availability of vital supplies", including food and medicine.

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The risk register also warns of "increased bad debt" due to a "widely predicted economic downturn" and "continued austerity", as well as a threat to existing and future EU-funded regeneration programmes.

A Shetland Islands Council document focuses on farming, with a dramatic rise forecast in loss-making sheep farms - from 50% now to 86% in a no-deal Brexit - due to tariffs on lamb.

Bristol City Council warns of a "top-line threat" of "social unrest or disillusionment during/after negotiations as neither Leave nor Remain voters feel their concerns are being met".

East Sussex County Council was among several authorities expressing concern about the impact on the provision of social care after Brexit.

It said: "There has already been a fall in the number of EU nationals taking jobs in the care sector.

"The county council has great concerns that the end of freedom of movement will put further pressure on the sector that is already stretched and struggling to deliver the level of care required for our ageing elderly population."

Eloise Todd, chief executive of anti-Brexit group Best for Britain, branded the council warnings "a national crisis and a severe dereliction of duty by central government."