And Leigh Evans, editor-in-chief of pro-Brexit think tank Facts4EU think, suggested the bloc was paying the price for “years of abusive behaviour” towards Britain. Facts4EU based their report on the latest trade figures published by the Offices for National Statistics on Tuesday.

       A comparison of the last 12 months with 2016, the year of the Brexit referendum, revealed the EU’s lost sales amounted to an eye-watering ￡27.8bn - a drop of 11.3 percent.

       Equally significant was the breakdown of where UK purchases of goods and services came from.

       In the first quarter of 2016, 55.7 percent came from the EU27.

       Five years later, this had dropped to just 49.5 percent.

       Mr Evans said: “For years there has been a growing backlash against the EU.

       “Even many of those who voted Remain in 2016 have been shocked by the EU’s bullying and unreasonable behaviour towards the United Kingdom.

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       “We have observed an increasing number of people on social media advocating that we should ‘buy British’ first, from Commonwealth countries second, and from the rest of the world third.

       “The EU is now seen as the last choice for many people – and even some of those would rather do without, than benefit the EU.”

       The ONS figures provided “clear evidence” that EU sales to Britain were dropping significantly, both in percentage and real terms, Mr Evans stressed.

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       He added: “Our analysis and report is about what Brexit Britain is buying from abroad and the figures do not look good for the EU.

       “Years of abusive behaviour by the EU towards the UK is bound to damage consumer opinion when it comes to making purchasing decisions.

       “Why buy from a source of constant hostility, when there are excellent indigenous suppliers and alternatives from friendly countries around the world?”

       In a message to the people of the bloc, Mr Evans said: “We have no observed no signs of hostility from the British people towards the citizens of EU27 countries.

       “The ‘beef’, as we say, isn’t with you. The beef is with the appalling way the United Kingdom has been treated – in particular by the EU Commission and EU Parliament.

       “If you felt bullied and treated like a non-voting colony, how would you react when choosing between a UK product and one from the EU27?”

       Comments on Facts4EU’s website were broadly in agreement with the report’s conclusions.

       Carol Garrington said: “So cross with myself, bought some onions and found they were from Spain. Been avoiding everything i can if not from UK.”

       Tina Ward added: “It will get worse for EU too as we all get more & more fed up with the bullies.”

       Nigel Davidson posted: “I switched to Malbec from Argentina, it’s so much better than the stuff from France too.”

       However, D.R Edwards was less convinced, saying: “Great idea. Let’s buy expensive stuff with lower standards from the other side of the planet instead of from our nearest neighbours.

       “Why not declare war on them while we’re at it?”