THE voting public in Swindon had their first encounter with new Brexit party candidate Justin Stares when he met shoppers in the town centre.

The political journalist who grew up in the town, has been chosen by the party to fight the south Swindon constituency currently represented by Robert Buckland.

He and supporters set out their stall on Saturday to talk to people about making a quick exit from the European Union.

Martin Costello who had volunteered to help spoke about the reception they got: “It was absolutely fantastic. We had people coming up and giving us a lot of support and they were just so pleased to see us. They were so pleased that we were flying the flag for Brexit.

“We had a lot of people coming up and telling us that they don’t trust Boris Johnson to deliver Brexit, they think there’s going to be a huge betrayal on October 31. The reception was more relief than anything that they saw us there.”

One passer by who stopped to wish the group well said he was happy to see their support for Brexit.

Mr Stares, who is based in Belgium and edits a news service for maritime industries, said: “I haven’t been inspired until now to get involved into politics. It’s a sense of frustration that has grown over a number of years. When the referendum happened and it came apparent to me that we voted to leave, which was a surprise and we are still in.”

“People are afraid of change and that is understandable," he said. "That is also why the business community, you’ll often find remainers because they’d rather everything stayed like it is and that is understandable. I honestly do not believe that there will be major changes.”

His comments came as the Government prepared to launch a £100m Get Ready for Brexit public information campaign.

TV adverts, billboards, radio and social media will all be used to signpost the public to a website where they can find out about preparing for the country's exit from the EU on October 31.

Over the weekend the British Retail Consortium disputed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove's assurances that there would be no food shortages after the departure if the UK left without a withdrawal agreement.

A consortium spokesman said: "The government'sassessments showed that the flow of goods through the channel crossings could be reduced by 40-60 per cent from day one, as would the availability and choice of some foods."