European Council president Donald Tusk has suggested EU leaders grant the UK a longer extension to Brexit than Theresa May has requested, The Irish Examiner reports.

The British Prime Minister, who spent the day holding talks with French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris and German chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, has been making the case for a delay until June 30.

But Mr Tusk, in a letter to the heads of the 27 remaining member states ahead of a crunch summit on Wednesday, said there was “little reason to believe” that the ratification of Mrs May’s beleaguered Brexit deal could be completed by the end of June.

He called for the European Council to discuss an alternative, longer extension, such as a “flexible extension” lasting “as long as necessary and no longer than one year”.

Mr Tusk wrote: “The flexibility would allow to terminate the extension automatically, as soon as both sides have ratified the Withdrawal Agreement. The UK would be free to leave whenever it is ready. And the EU 27 would avoid repeated Brexit summits. Importantly, a long extension would provide more certainty and predictability by removing the threat of constantly shifting cliff-edge dates.”