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Owning property in Cambridge is “no guarantee of permanent residency” for EU nationals living in the city after Brexit.

Campaign group, Cambridge Stays, held a public meeting on Wednesday for EU nationals and their families living in Cambridge and the surrounding area, to explore the steps that they could take to protect their status in the UK in these uncertain times.

More than 300 people attended the event, which was held at the Emmanuel United Reformed Church, Trumpington Street, Cambridge. EU Nationals living in Cambridge expressed dismay after the vote lo leave the EU last year, and were advised to act quickly to make sure their rights were not undermined.

Anne Laure Donskoy, of The 3 Million, a group campaigning to preserve the rights of EU citizens living in the UK said the rhetoric from Whitehall on Brexit was “not civilised or acceptable”.

She said: "People can't uproot themselves. Being told to 'go home' is frightening. Home is here.

"On June 24, it felt like someone had pulled a rug out from under my feet"

Owen Jones, of Doyle Clayton Solicitors Limited, said EU nationals living in the city should act now and exercise treaty rights while the UK was still part of the EU.

He said people should waste no time in applying for badges of permanent residence or, failing that, a registration certificate. He warned, however, that the forms were "not straight forward" and that he expected the Home Office system to crash with increased interest.

One member of the audience asked whether owning property in Cambridge would help with the application to become a full-time resident. Mr Jones said this was no guarantee.

Another member of the public said: “I've been here 50 years, since before the EU. I'm still an Austrian citizen but have paid taxes here for 50 years. What's my situation?”

She was also advised to apply for a certificate of permanent residence. There were also calls to lobby MPs to stand up for the rights, not just the right to remain, of EU nationals in the UK.

Dr Stephanie Reynolds, Lecturer in Law at the University of Liverpool, warned that: "The Great Repeal Bill may freeze rights of EU nationals."

Dr Reynolds also said UK immigration laws are too inaccessible and overly complex, and that there is growing pressure from House of Lords not to use EU citizens as bargaining chips.