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One of Bristol’s biggest employers, Airbus, could start production of new aircraft models away from Britain if the nation ends up with a so-called ‘hard Brexit’, its boss has warned.

Fabrice Bregier, the chief operating officer of the company which employs more than 4,500 people at Filton, said Airbus’s demands for the continued free movement of people and no trade tariffs were ‘non-negotiable’.

But, the Sunday Times reported, he warned that if Britain ends up with no deal, trade tariffs and an end to people from the EU being able to come and go in Britain to work freely, it would have dire consequences for the future of the Filton factory.

He said Filton would risk losing Airbus production in the future, highlighting that even he, as the boss, would have to overcome difficulties to visit his own factories in Filton, and in Broughton in north Wales.

“For new productions, it's very easy to have a new plant somewhere in the world. We would have plenty of offers to do that," Bregier said, according to the newspaper.

"We want to stay in the UK — provided the conditions to work in an integrated organisation are met."

He said the deal Britain does with the EU must allow its staff from all over the world to enter Britain easily, and ensure that parts are kept exempt from any trade tariffs, and that Britain ensures regulatory standards are maintained.

At the moment, workers at Filton design the wings, fuel systems and landing gear integration for Airbus planes, and manufacture the wings of the A400M, which are then shipped to Europe where planes are put together.

Nine years ago, most of the other manufacturing of components was sold off to GKN, which continues to work at the Filton site as a subcontractor.

A ‘hard Brexit’, which would see Britain not allowing EU citizens to work freely in this country and with the possibility of tariffs on goods being traded with the EU, would mean the next time Airbus considered where to locate the manufacture of new planes, it would be reluctant to consider Britain.

Its chief executive Tom Enders said a hard Brexit ‘could potentially impact the competitiveness’ of the firm’s two plants in Britain.

“We are a company that obviously has an interest in free flow of people,” he said. “Mobility between our sites in Europe is critical.”

While the Government under Theresa May has kept its Brexit negotiating position close its chest, the debate within Westminster – and the nation as a whole – is whether Britain should accept trade tariffs as the price to pay for closing the border to the free movement of people to and from the EU. The European Union has made it clear that access to the single market comes with a condition of free movement.