Food prices in the UK will rise if the government does not fight for the sector and its workers in Brexit negotiations, industry leaders have warned.

Thirty representatives, including Ian Wright, director-general of the Food and Drink Federation, and Helen Dickinson, chief executive at the British Retail Consortium, signed a letter which said 'all options should be explored'.

The group said it is important to recognise that the sector's workers from the EU are 'highly flexible and provide a reservoir of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labour without which the industry could not function'.

In the letter, published by the Guardian, they said: 'If we are to adopt a work permit system to control immigration, then it is vital that the whole of the food and drink supply chain receives equal treatment with financial services or the automotive sector.

'All options should be explored, including a workable points-based system for shortage occupations, sector-based and seasonal/guest worker schemes and effective transitionary arrangements. If it is not, the UK will face less food choice and higher food prices.'

It added: 'The issues at the heart of the UK's future relationship with the EU are beginning to crystallise and so it is imperative that the strategic importance of food and drink to our nation's economic and physical well-being is recognised and its future secured.

'In recent years, Britain has enjoyed access to a wider range of safe, high-quality food and drink, at every price point, than ever before. At a time when household incomes are under increasing pressure, shop prices for food have been kept in check for more than three years.

'If that is to continue, the Government must ensure the place of food and drink in our new industrial strategy and it must place the sector's priorities at the heart of the Brexit negotiations.'