THERESA May has tried to reassure anxious voters by insisting crashing out of the EU without a deal would not be the “end of the world”.

The Prime Minister made the comments as she travelled to Cape Town as part of a three-day trip to Africa, playing down warnings the UK could suffer a major economic hit in the event of a leaving the bloc without a formal agreement.

Civil servants in London and Edinburgh have been stepping up preparations for the UK leaving without a deal or transition period with the EU at the end of March following fears over its impact on the supplies of food, medicines and medical equipment because of interruptions of imports from Europe.

READ MORE: Here's why no amount of spin can hide that no deal will be a disaster

Chancellor Philip Hammond warned last week a no-deal departure could have “large fiscal consequences,” including £80 billion-a-year higher borrowing by the mid-2030s. But May cited the boss of the World Trade Organisation, Roberto Azevêdo, yesterday as she tried to allay concerns.

“Look at what the director general of the World Trade Organisation has said,” she told reporters as she flew to Africa for a three-day trade visit.

“He has said about the no-deal situation that it will not be a walk in the park, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world.”

She added: “What the Government is doing is putting in place the preparation such that if we are in that situation, we can make a success of it, just as we can make a success of a good deal.”

Hammond had based his comments on Treasury forecasts from January this year, but May dismissed the analysis, saying: “They were a work in progress at that particular time.”

Ministers published 25 technical notices last week laying out advice to businesses, public bodies and the public on how best to prepare for the possibility of the UK leaving the EU without a deal in seven months.

The “technical notices” included warnings that bank-card charges on the continent could rise, while British citizens living in the EU could lose access to bank accounts and pensions.

Stephen Gethins, the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesman, renewed calls for the UK Government to rule out no deal, accusing May of being “reckless in the extreme” by downplaying Hammond’s warnings.

“[The UK Government’s] own analysis suggests a hard Brexit would hit Scottish GDP by up to 9% – costing Scotland around £12.7bn a year, the equivalent of £2300 per person, and putting around 80,000 jobs on the line,” he said. “The Tories are even more out of touch than we all thought if they really believe they can just shrug off such a damaging impact to families with the absurd excuse that it’s not ‘the end of the world’.

“The UK Government must immediately rule out a no-deal scenario.”

May’s claim is the latest in a series of apocalyptic comparisons used by UK ministers in an attempt to defend a no-deal Brexit. Earlier this month, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the UK would “survive”, having previously warned it would “be a mistake we would regret for generations”.

Former Brexit secretary David Davis has previously said the UK would not be “plunged into a Mad Max-style world” under the UK government’s Brexit plans.