Amazon has issued advice to British retailers in anticipation of a no-deal Brexit to ensure they can continue selling goods in the EU.

The online retailer told UK sellers a no deal “may temporarily prevent cross-border trade” and that they should consider sending stock to one of its European warehouses or “fulfilment centres”.

In an email sent by Amazon to retailers and seen by the BBC, the US etail titan advised businesses to send stock to an EU fulfilment centre by March 17. 

Amazon told the BBC the guidance was sent to ensure sellers plan and prepare for all scenarios.

In 2017, UK sellers exported around £2.3bn of goods via Amazon globally.

Joe Doherty, manager of Marble Hill Natural skincare, told the BBC: “We have been loading our products into Amazon’s pan-European warehouse to help ensure supply is available for distribution to the European markets.

“Production has been increased and that is having an obvious effect on our business because the products are not being sold immediately.

“There is only so much contingency planning businesses can afford in the face of so many different outcomes.

“We sell a lot of our products throughout Europe via Amazon and we’ve been making contingencies in recent months to ensure demand can be met, at least in the short term, in the event of a hard Brexit.”