Watford MP Richard Harrington said he would be prepared to resign as a minister to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

Mr Harrington, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Industry & Energy, was appearing on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme this morning after he and two other ministers wrote a piece in the Daily Mail "imploring" the Prime Minister to delay leaving the EU.

He said he would vote for a 'Cooper Letwin' amendment to delay Brexit by obliging the Prime Minister to ask the House of Commons to vote for a no-deal Brexit or extend Article 50.

Asked whether he would resign or defy the Prime Minister to sack him, he said: "I think the honourable thing to do would be to resign, assuming it's a whipped vote of the Government.

"I think it's reasonable to say that if you vote against a proper, whipped vote of the Government (you should resign).

"But I hope that's not necessary because of course I support the Prime Minister's main policy, which is the Prime Minister's deal, which is an excellent way to deal with Brexit."

The Prime Minister announced at the weekend she was delaying a vote by MPs on her deal until March 12 - just 17 days before the UK is due to leave the EU.

If there is no agreement by then, the country will trade with the EU on World Trade Organisation terms - the so-called 'no-deal' Brexit.

In the Mail article, Mr Harrington and fellow ministers Claire Perry and Margot James call this "the most basic and disruptive of terms".

They say that even if an agreement is reached by March 12, it would be too late to have it ratified by the European Council of Ministers, the UK Parliament and the European Parliament before March 29.

Mr Harrington has warned in the past that businesses need to know the terms on which they will continue to trade with others in Europe.

The letter says British businesses have been "plunged into depths of uncertainty and dismay" that is "ruinous" for their millions of employees.

It adds: "We can’t go on like this. All three facts point to the same conclusion: we must act immediately to ensure that we are not swept over the precipice on March 29.

"The way to do that is to seek a short extension to Article 50 to allow the negotiations to be completed, the legislation to pass and for the panic that businesses face to subside."

The three ministers say the extension would not take no deal off the table or not affect the conduct of the negotiation.

They say: "What it would do is to help save the jobs of thousands of people whose employers risk taking flight rather than putting up any longer with the enforced ignorance they have of how to trade with their most important suppliers and customers."

Calling on the Government to take a "cool-headed, sensible step", they say that if there is no deal agreed, the Government will seek a way to extend Article 50 to avoid leaving with no deal.

And they conclude: "But if the Prime Minister is not able to make this commitment, we will have no choice other than to join MPs of all parties in the House of Commons, including fellow ministers, in acting in the national interest to prevent a disaster in less than five weeks’ time that we may regret forever."