Universities say they have lost existing or potential staff to overseas institutions since the vote to leave the EU in 2016

Almost 2,500 academics have quit Scotland in the past three years, raising fears of a Brexit “brain drain”.

Figures show that significant numbers of lecturers and officials have left Scottish universities since Britain voted in June 2016 to end its membership of the European Union.

Almost 1,000 left in the past year, nearly double the 530 EU academics who quit in 2015-16, the year before the vote. At least 2,462 staff have left since. Edinburgh University was worst affected, with 1,272 departures, followed by Glasgow with 776, Aberdeen with 178, and Stirling with 68.

Universities Scotland, which represents Scotland’s 19 higher education institutions, has said that leaving the EU with no deal would be “very bad”.

The latest figures came from freedom of information requests