DUDLEY North MP Ian Austin joined over 200 other MPs to sign a letter to PM Theresa May calling on her to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

The cross-party letter urged the Prime Minister to rule out a no-deal to protect jobs and industries.

Speaking on his decision to sign the letter, Mr Austin said: "I respect the people I represent and the result of the referendum. I’ve held dozens of meetings and sent out thousands of surveys to listen to lots of people in Dudley and whilst there’s no doubt most people wanted to leave, most of them also wanted to maintain the best possible trading arrangements to help local businesses and protect jobs.

“I am very worried about the impact leaving with no deal would have on manufacturing businesses and automotive industries in the Black Country. For example, Jaguar Land Rover is absolutely crucial to the West Midlands but they have warned that 'tens of thousands' of jobs are at risk in the event of a bad deal and even they can’t be sure UK plants will continue to operate.”

A total of 209 members of Parliament backed calls for the Prime Minister to stand down from her warning that MPs would have to choose between her draft deal or no deal at all.

The Prime Minister's deal will be put to the House of Commons on January 15, a month after it was postponed in December.

The letter was organised by two Midland MPs, Conservative MP for Meriden Dame Caroline Spelman and Labour's Jack Dromey who represents Birmingham Erdington.

Margot James MP has also said that Article 50 could be extended if MPs reject Theresa May's deal.

Speaking on the BBC's Politics Live, the Stourbridge MP said that the UK 'cannot afford' to leave the EU without a deal and that MPs need to 'coalesce around a reasonable deal'.

She said that if that proves to be 'impossible', than Article 50 may need to be extended.

She added however: "I think it's very unlikely that Parliament will stare down the barrel of that particular gun."