AS THERESA May travelled to Brussels to plead with them to allow for Brexit to be delayed, a petition calling for Article 50 to be revoked altogether crashed the UK Government's petitions website.

More than 600,000 people have signed the petition calling for the UK to remain in the EU - far surpassing the 100,000-signature threshold needed for it to be debated in Parliament.

There was increased activity in signatures following the prime minister's appeal to the public on Wednesday night.

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In her Downing Street statement, she blamed MPs for failing to implement the result of the 2016 EU referendum and told frustrated voters: "I am on your side."

Revoke Article 50 began trending on Twitter following Mrs May's speech and continued to be a global trend into Thursday morning.

Users were quick to share the petition, with celebrities and MPs tweeting their support for Parliament to revoke the Treaty of Lisbon clause which deals with leaving the EU.

Famous figures including actors Hugh Grant and Jennifer Saunders, TV presenter and author Caitlin Moran, physicist Brian Cox and former Labour press chief Alastair Campbell all urged their followers on social media to sign the petition.

Alongside the link, Mr Grant wrote: "I've signed. And it looks like every sane person in the country is signing too. National emergency."

The petition had reached more than 610,000 signatures before the website began showing an error message shortly after 9am on Thursday, with around 584,000 of those signing from the UK.

The error was later rectified and the number of signatures began increasing once again.

The petition reads: "The Government repeatedly claims exiting the EU is 'the will of the people'.

"We need to put a stop to this claim by proving the strength of public support now for remaining in the EU. A People's Vote may not happen - so vote now."

With just eight days before the UK is due to leave the EU, the prime minister will make the case for extending the Article 50 withdrawal process to June 30 at a Brussels summit today.

Ahead of the meeting, European Council president Donald Tusk said a "short" delay should be possible - but only if MPs finally back her deal before the deadline day on March 29.

With fears in Brussels growing that the UK is heading for a no-deal break, he said he would not hesitate to call an emergency summit next week if that proved necessary.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has also said she will work "until the last hour" to try and ensure that Britain does not leave the European Union without a deal.

Mrs May will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron - seen as the most likely opponent to her request for more time - ahead of the main summit.

Meanwhile, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also came in for criticism after pulling out of a meeting between Mrs May and opposition party leaders because party defectors who are now members of the Independent Group turned up.

The behaviour of the Labour leader, who was also heading to Brussels on Thursday to hold talks with EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, was described by one of their number - Chuka Umunna - as "juvenile" at a time of national crisis.