The news of progress on the border question comes after Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, and Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, held talks yesterday

European Union Brexit negotiators have told national diplomats in Brussels that a deal to solve the Irish border issue is now “very close”.

After talks yesterday between Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, and Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, sources in the commission told Reuters that both sides were closing in on an agreement.

The basis of a deal was understood to centre around proposals, revealed by The Times on Tuesday, that are due to be formally tabled by the British side imminently. Under the plan the whole of the UK would remain within an EU-wide single customs regime until the technology exists to ensure no hard border in Ireland.

Northern Ireland would diverge from Britain and follow single market regulations that cover