IMMIGRANTS in East Lancashire are feeling ‘rejected’ and are ‘worried they may be asked to leave the UK’, a lawyer has said.

Following the vote to leave the European Union, solicitor firm Watson Ramsbottom has received an ‘unusual’ amount of phone calls regarding immigrants’ rights, head of dispute resolution Jonathan Leach has said.

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Mr Leach, who is based in the Accrington office, said that even though many EU immigrants have been here a long time, they are still concerned for their future.

Mr Leach said: “We are getting immigrants coming to us asking what their rights are and what the rights are of people in their care.

“We are getting some issues that we have hardly ever come across, such as local authorities who are asking about the rights of looked-after children from the European Economic Area.

“There is no way we would have seen something like that pre-Brexit.

“I think that people are feeling quite rejected.

“We have people coming to us that have been here a long time but they are genuinely concerned they might be asked to leave.”

Waston Ramsbottom also has bases in Blackburn, Darwen and Great Harwood.

East Lancashire MPs backed Prime Minister Theresa May’s plans earlier this month to begin the process of leaving the EU by the end of March.

After any EU national has worked in the UK for five years they are able to obtain a residence card evidencing their rights.

However until the process begins to leave the EU, Mr Leach said there is a lot of ‘uncertainty’ about how people who haven’t been here for that time will be treated.

He said: “We do not know what kind of arrangement the UK is planning for.

“It would be easier if we were to just do a full Brexit, because then we can look at how other countries work who are not in the EU.

“But it seems that people generally want something in the middle.

“So it is difficult for us to know exactly what to say to those people who may not have been here five years.

“Anyone who has come here from April 2014 will feel that potentially, they could be asked to leave.

“It is also unknown what would happen in the future if a person entered the UK after the vote.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty.” and there was an element of shock at Watson Ramsbottom, but all we can do is offer advice based on how things are now.”