The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has likened the UK to 'The Incredible Hulk' as it seeks to leave the European Union.

He told the UK Mail On Sunday that the country would break out of its "manacles" like the fictional green-skinned superhero.

He said Britain would be like Dr Robert Bruce Banner, Hulk's physically weak and withdrawn physicist alter ego who transformed into The Hulk when he became angry.

"Banner might be bound in manacles, but when provoked he would explode out of them," Mr Johnson said.

"Hulk always escaped, no matter how tightly bound in he seemed to be - and that is the case for this country. We will come out on 31 October and we will get it done."

"The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets," he added.

Mr Johnson claimed there were "real signs of movement" among European countries about ditching the backstop, which has been seen as an obstacle to progress so far.

The backstop is a customs plan to avoid a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland if a free trade deal between the UK and EU is not reached.

Mr Johnson said that if negotiations broke down he would ignore a House of Commons vote ordering him to delay the UK's departure.

Mr Johnson is due to meet the outgoing European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and its chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Luxembourg this week.

Mr Johnson seemed confident about the prospects of reaching a Brexit deal in time, telling the paper he thinks "we will get there" and that a "huge amount of progress is being made".

He said: "I will be talking to Jean-Claude about how we're going to do it. I'm very confident."

However, Downing Street has cautioned that Monday's meetings will not be a "big breakthrough" moment in a bid to strike a deal with Brussels.