The government is reportedly planning a further delay in the implementation of post-EU border health and safety checks amid fears of significant disruption.

Media reports say ports will not start the new arrangements for inspecting goods as scheduled later this month to avoid queues, warning it risked “big delays”.

The Financial Times says ports were given a briefing from Defra which said there was a plan for a phased introduction of the new inspections and that it continued to be concerned about the challenges it faced.

It would mean yet another postponement of the inspection regime, which has already been delayed five times.

The government is in a dispute with the Dover Port Health Authority over its plans to move inspections to Sevington, near Ashford, where there is a large site for border controls.

In a presentation, Defra told port health authorities that it continued to be anxious about new inspections overwhelming ports and among options it was considering was a phased introduction.

According to the report, Dover saw 12,573 risk notifications over a three-week period earlier this year - far higher than most other ports.

Trade groups have warned the new system for checks needs to be reconsidered and say a six-month delay is needed.

The Cold Chain Federation, which represents chilled logistics businesses, said controls on EU goods could increase food prices and serious issues needed to be addressed.

It said it was “beyond frustrating that repeated warnings about the readiness of crucial infrastructure have been ignored and in less than two weeks time, businesses will have to try to navigate this clearly broken system”.

In a statement, Defra said: “As we have always said, the goods posing the highest biosecurity risk are being prioritised as we build up to full check rates and high levels of compliance.

“Taking a pragmatic approach to introducing our new border checks minimises disruption, protects our biosecurity and benefits everyone – especially traders.

“There has been extensive engagement with businesses over the past year – with our approach welcomed by several trade associations and port authorities.

“We will continue to work with and support businesses throughout this process to maintain the smooth flow of imported goods.

“We are confident we have sufficient capacity and capability across all points of entry to handle the volume and type of expected checks.

“It is important to remember the cost of our border checks is negligible compared to the impact of a major disease outbreak on our economy and farmers.”

On the use of Border Control posts, like Sevington, it said checks would be carried out by fully-trained staff and were designed to handle high volumes of imported SPS - Sanitary and Phytosanitary - goods.