Theresa May will trigger EU withdrawal talks under Article 50 on Wednesday March 29, Downing Street has announced.

The Prime Minister's letter officially notifying the European Council of the UK's intention to quit will set in train a two-year negotiation process expected to lead to Britain leaving the EU on Wednesday March 29 2019.

Britain's ambassador to the EU, Sir Tim Barrow, informed the office of European Council president Donald Tusk on Monday morning of the Prime Minister's plans.

he UK’s Permanent Representative to the European Union, Sir Tim Barrow, has this morning informed the office of European Council President, Donald Tusk, of the UK’s intention to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty on March 29, 2017.

This meets the UK’s longstanding commitment to trigger Article 50 by the end of March 2017.

David Davis, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, said: "Last June, the people of the UK made the historic decision to leave the EU. Next Wednesday, the Government will deliver on that decision and formally start the process by triggering Article 50.

"We are on the threshold of the most important negotiation for this country for a generation.

"The Government is clear in its aims: a deal that works for every nation and region of the UK and indeed for all of Europe – a new, positive partnership between the UK and our friends and allies in the European Union."

The announcement means that Mrs May will meet her self-imposed deadline of the end of March to get the withdrawal process under way.

She was cleared to take the step when the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act gained royal assent last week, after a Supreme Court ruling forced her to seek the approval of both Houses of Parliament.

Mrs May will address MPs in a statement to the House of Commons following her regular weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions on March 29.

Mr Tusk has previously said he expects to release an initial response to the Article 50 notification within 48 hours, and an extraordinary summit of the remaining 27 EU member states is due to be called within four to six weeks.

That summit will draw up a mandate for the European Commission's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, probably allowing talks to begin in earnest in May.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: "Theresa May is embarking on an extreme and divisive Brexit. She has rushed this through without a plan, and without a clue.

“On the day Theresa May is travelling the country claiming she wants to bring the United Kingdom together, she lets it be known she is about to unleash division and bitterness.

“She has chosen the hardest and most divisive form of Brexit, choosing to take us out of the Single Market before she has even tried to negotiate. That’s why we believe the people should have the final say over the Conservative Brexit deal.

“Membership of the Single Market is vital for the British economy and for the jobs of millions of British people. Leaving the Single Market was not on the ballot paper in the referendum, it is a political choice made by Theresa May.

“Meanwhile, with the country in desperate need of an Official Opposition, Labour has declared war on itself rather than defending the people from a hard Brexit."