DOWNING Street said Brexit negotiations were ongoing last night as reports suggested Boris Johnson is closing in on a new deal after giving significant ground to the EU over the Irish border.

The Prime Minister is in a race against time to get a fresh agreement negotiated in time for the Brussels summit of European leaders starting tomorrow.

Back in the UK, the PM faced another challenge – this time from the LibDems, who tabled a motion calling for any deal struck with the bloc to be put back to the people in a public vote.

It was reported that senior sources on both sides of the Channel said a draft treaty could be published this morning after the UK agreed in principle there will be a customs border in the Irish Sea.

The PM’s official spokesperson said: “Talks remain constructive but there is more work still to do.”

Downing Street sources also downplayed the chances of a breakthrough being imminent and an EU official stressed “talks are ongoing”.

Meanwhile, the Irish Taoiseach said it was not clear whether a deal would be ready for the EU summit.

“The initial indications (from the EU) are that we are making progress, negotiations are moving in the right direction,” Leo Varadkar told reporters.

“But whether we will be able to conclude a revised withdrawal agreement, which is an international treaty, in time for the summit, that’s as of now unclear.”

Varadkar also revealed that the PM told him during their meeting last week he was “confident” he would be able to do what Theresa May thrice failed to do by getting a deal through the House of Commons.

Suggestions a deal was closing in came as Downing Street declined to recognise a midnight deadline apparently set by EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier.

Barnier warned Johnson that “it is high time to turn good intentions into legal text”.

But the PM’s official spokesperson said: “We are working hard. The Prime Minister is aware of the time constraints that we are under.”

Various members of the European Research Group of Tory Brexiteers attended a meeting inside Downing Street on Tuesday afternoon.

Chairman Steve Baker, who said the “constructive talks” were not with the PM, left feeling “optimistic” that a “tolerable deal” might be reached.

Mark Francois said the meeting was “interesting” and added “there’ll be further chats to have”, while former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith and MP Bill Cash also emerged from Downing Street.

Johnson is set to update his Cabinet on Brexit on Wednesday afternoon in order to give them the most up-to-date information on talks.

Downing Street officials are understood to have been meeting with various parliamentary factions in recent days as negotiators hammer out a deal.

The two-day EU summit is crucial because the PM must get a new deal approved by MPs by Saturday if he is to avoid a clash over asking for a Brexit delay.

The Benn Act, passed by MPs opposed to a No Deal, says he must ask for an extension to Article 50 if MPs do not back a deal by then.

There are fears that a loophole could be used to avoid this, with the PM repeatedly ruling out making the extension request under his “do or die” pledge to get Brexit done by the Halloween deadline.

Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg has suggested the Government could use European law to achieve no deal, while Labour has threatened court action to force the PM to obey the legislation.