A SWINDON group is urging the government to extend the Brexit transition period as the June 30 deadline looms.

Swindon for Europe members fear a no deal Brexit could cause chaos and inflict serious damage on the British economy.

Steve Rouse said: “People are worried about the damage to jobs and livelihoods the perfect storm that no deal and the pandemic could bring.

“Swindon, with its reliance on manufacturing and finance industries is already extremely vulnerable to the effects of Brexit.

“Achieving a trade deal was always going to be ambitious within an eleven-month transition period but doing so in the midst of a worldwide pandemic injects massive challenge to the task. Many parliamentarians of all parties voted against a no-deal Brexit last year and right now our government should not create chaos but avoid it.”

Britain can request an extension of up to two years, if agreed by both parties. The group has asked the borough council to update its Swindon Brexit report, assessing the risk and identifying the threats and opportunities in various areas including the town’s economy and workforce.

A borough council spokesman said: “Since the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016, council officers have been working behind the scenes to identify any opportunities that may become available as well as to help reduce any potentially negative impacts on Swindon.

“Detailed reports to this end have previously been brought both to the council’s scrutiny committee and to the growing the economy overview and scrutiny committee, and both reports are publicly available to view on the council’s website. We are currently reviewing this work and will update.”

Members have written to councillors and MPs Justin Tomlinson and Robert Buckland in a bid to help them persuade the government to change the deadline.

Mr Buckland told the Adver in March: “We have now left the EU and are in a transition period. As enshrined in law, this will end on December 31.

“The structure of negotiations with the EU may need to change to reflect the current situation. We’re in regular contact with the EU and both sides are fully committed to the negotiations. There is no need for an extension which would simply delay the moment we recover economic and political independence as voted for by the people for Swindon and Britain.”

Mr Buckland has confirmed his previous statement stands.