FRANCE, Spain and Belgium are ready to veto a Brexit delay after Theresa May requested an Article 50 extension.

The Prime Minister has written to European Council President Donald Tusk requesting exit day on March 29 be postponed until June 30 – a move which would need to be approved by all of the other 27 EU members.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has warned an extension will not be granted without a "concrete plan" from May for "something new".

Tusk, meanwhile, has said a short extension will be possible, but is “conditional on a positive vote on the Withdrawal Agreement in the House of Commons".

READ MORE: EU warn Theresa May's Article 50 extension may be unacceptable

Now, sources have said France, Spain, Belgium and maybe Italy stand prepared to reject an extension without evidence Parliament is now ready to accept a deal and "the deadlock can be broken".

Some member states worry there is no point to an extension as, even after 1000 days of negotiation, May's deal keeps being rejected and the EU cannot move any further towards the UK.

One source said: "We're not against an extension per se but we need to have two things – first a demonstration that the situation has changed and there is a guarantee the extension is for something and second that an extension won't be detrimental to the EU.

"Yes, a no-deal Brexit would be damaging and it's absolutely not what we want but I think we're ready to go to this situation because there are only two solutions – either a deal is accepted or there is no deal.

"The deal has been rejected and it keeps being rejected so if we come to no-deal then so be it."

It is understood French president Emmanuel Macron believes Brexit is holding up his plans for radical reform of the EU and needs to be brought to a conclusion.

READ MORE: Brexit: Emmanuel Macron says he will veto extension to Article 50

French Europe minister Nathalie Loiseau also expressed frustration at further delays at a mini-summit in Brussels this week ahead of the main talks on Thursday.

"Grant an extension - what for?" Loiseau said. "Time is not a solution, it's a method.

"If there is an objective and a strategy and it has to come from London."

A cautious reaction to reports Macron and other leaders could oppose an extension was given by Agathe Demarais, principal economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Demerais said such reports ramped up the pressure on the UK to present a Brexit road map on how to break the current political deadlock in the Commons, in line with the European Commission's desire to end any extension on May 23 before the EU elections or provide a longer extension to allow a strategy switch.

READ MORE: READ: Theresa May's letter to Donald Tusk asking for Brexit delay

She said: "France has always had one of the toughest stances on Brexit negotiations across EU member states.

"This is because Emmanuel Macron, the French president, wants to deter other EU member states from considering exiting the bloc.

"France aims at doing so by showing that leaving the EU is a damaging process that will result in an outcome that is necessarily inferior to EU membership.

"In addition, France has always tried hard to attract international companies that will leave the UK following Brexit.

"As such, a no-deal Brexit scenario would not be catastrophic for the French government."