UK and EU settle fishing row but French fishers vow to go ahead with blockade

Talk of trade war dropped after UK and Channel Islands governments agree to issue more licences

Paris, London and Brussels have dropped talk of a trade war and appeared to settle a dispute over post-Brexit fishing licences, but angry French fishers threatened to go ahead with a pre-Christmas blockade of British goods entering Calais.

The European Commission and the French government signalled satisfaction with the result of an intensive fortnight of negotiations as the UK and Channel Islands governments agreed to issue 83 more operating licences before an EU deadline.