WORCESTER MP Robin Walker has been to Northern Ireland for crunch talks about the implications of Brexit.

The Conservative, who is a minister in the Department for Exiting the EU, told the Worcester News he wanted to understand "the specific challenges" the country is facing.

It came after controversial remarks from Prime Minister Theresa May, who is seeking a so-called 'hard Brexit' which is expected to result in Britain leaving the single market.

The battering sterling has taken has hurt Irish exporters, who sell £15 billion worth of products across Britain every year.

Mr Walker's trip was focused on talks with government officials and farming leaders about the concerns from the agricultural community.

He also held talks about the future loss of EU structural funds, tariffs, the common travel area, borders and free movement.

He said: "We've had a very useful discussion, talking to the Northern Ireland agricultural community and agri-food businesses about the needs of the economy as we go through the process of negotiating our exit.

"It's been really valuable to spend some time with the secretary of state and to understand the specific challenges that are faced in Northern Ireland, and some of the opportunities."

After his visit it emerged that the UK wants to shift frontline immigration controls to Ireland's ports and airports to avoid introducing a "hard border" between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

On the weekend Northern Ireland secretary James Brokenshire revealed how London and Dublin will share data to stop migrants using Irish borders as a backdoor into Britain.

Northern Ireland is the UK's smallest region at 1.8 million residents, but it is the only one that shares a land border with another EU member state.

After June's historic vote, serious concerns mounted that to control immigration, measures would have to be imposed on the 300-mile border between the Republic and Northern Ireland.

Any such controls could be seen as a violation of the Good Friday agreement, and potential provocation in a region that has only relatively recently put violence behind it.

During Mr Walker's talks officials told him there was a "special case" to be made given the peace process and that historic Good Friday agreement.