FEARS schools could run out of food for meals for children and a fuel shortage could halt bin collections have been raised if no deal is reached over Brexit.

With the clock ticking until March when the UK will leave the EU, Glasgow City Council is planning for shortages of essentials to deliver services like food and fuel.

Susan Aitken, council leader, warned of the potential catastrophe if no deal is agreed by the UK Government and the European Union as a Brexit summit in the City Chambers.

She raised the prospect of children, who rely on free meals, going hungry and bins going uncollected in city streets.

She said the city is on “the cusp of the most economically and socially damaging event of our times”.

With less than less than six months to go before the leave date, she said there is no more clarity now than before on the impact on the city.

Ms Aitken said: “We are now taking about the consequences of a no deal Brexit.

“Will we have enough food to feed our children in our schools? Will we have enough fuel to complete the cleansing runs?”

She added the most vulnerable and poorest will suffer most.

Ms Aitken told the conference. “People in this city many of whom already struggle face new challenges outwith their control.

“As council leader, what causes me concern is when I ask myself how vulnerable and exposed many in our communities are going to be for the shocks that are coming.

“Will the impact of Brexit be the tipping point that pushes them into the abyss they might not recover from.”

A spokesman for the council said: “Brexit is a challenge to the resilience of any organisation.

“Council teams have business continuity plans that aim to manage the impact on critical services from anything from extreme weather to disruption to the supply of goods and services.

“Over the months ahead, Brexit will be part of the context for those wider plans and the response will depend on what, if any, deal emerges and also national resilience arrangements.”

The summit also heard from Glasgow University Principal, Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, who criticised the UK government for its handling of the situation.

He said: “None of us could have seen the rank incompetence which the UK has taken forward in the negotiations.”