Britons hit with £1,700 increase on country’s two most popular cars due to Brexit

The motoring giant said it was passing on the costs to customers and blamed “rules of origin” tariffs for the price rise.

A Ford UK spokesman told Autocar magazine the increases were “all to do with Brexit pricing”, adding: “There are two Ford models in the top-end, performance Fiesta and Puma ST models sold in the UK that now fall beyond the established limits for UK-EU local content under the rules of origin requirements, and are therefore subject to a tariff. The prices of these vehicles were increased in late December.”

Meanwhile, the heads of the UK’s major supermarkets warned that food shortages in Northern Ireland caused by new Brexit border arrangements could “worsen” in the coming weeks.

In a letter to cabinet office minister Michael Gove, the chief executives of Sainsbury, Marks and Spencer, and Tesco UK said shortages would worsen when the Brexit grace period – which has exempted retailers from more arduous red tape – ends on March 31.

The letter said it was “essential we find a long-term solution, agreed with the EU”, before the March deadline.

“We cannon stress enough that we need time to find and implement that solution.”