The minister in charge of railways has sought to reassure Eurostar after the company raised concerns that a Brexit would pose serious questions over its ability to operate.

The company has outlined its concerns in a submission to a House of Lords committee, with warnings over recruitment, the effect on business users and delays because of new border controls.

Minister Paul Maynard said he understood the concerns but pledged they would be "factored into" negotiations.

“We are not leaving Europe, we are leaving the EU and there will still be a need for passengers to travel to Paris and Brussels and beyond.

"Eurostar is an important part of our infrastructure in that way and I look forward to working with them as I have done so far to make sure that where there are concerns about Brexit, that they are factored into our negotiations.”

“Eurostar has benefited immensely from EU rules making cross border rail travel easier and cheaper. If divergence between UK and EU rules were to happen, this would lead to significant cost and complexity for our business..." - Eurostar

In its submission, the company makes clear it believes there will be nothing positive about leaving and doing so would create more difficulties for it across many areas of its business.

It highlights a series of concerns about recruitment, lengthier journey times, potential loss of investment from entrepeneurs and most seriously a decline in passenger numbers.

The submission says: “Eurostar has benefited immensely from EU rules making cross border rail travel easier and cheaper. If divergence between UK and EU rules were to happen, this would lead to significant cost and complexity for our business.” “This in turn would affect our competitiveness and, depending on the nature of any differences between systems, it may not be possible to operate either from an economic or practical standpoint.”The company is one of Kent’s most important businesses, employing around 1,800 people in the UK - of which three quarters are based at Ashford, St Pancras and Ebbsfleet stations and its London headquarters.

Last year, 10m passengers used its services, along with 350,000 British citizens living and doing business in France, Belgium, Germany and Holland.