Brexit will not be a “catastrophe” for the City, according to a former French banker charged by the French Government with persuading banks to relocate to Paris.

Financial companies have warned that they will have to move thousands of jobs to cities in the Euuropean Union after Britain leaves the European Union next year.

But Christian Noyer, a former Bank of France governor, told the BBC that concerns about the impact on the City of Brexit had been overblown.

Mr Noyer was hired in 2016 by the French government to defend the country’s financial interests in the Brexit negotiations.

He told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme: “Twenty years ago London was already the first financial centre and Paris was much more important.

“Many banks had concentrated their forces in London which had tens or sometimes hundreds of staff in Paris before.

“So if that goes back to where we were 20 years ago it is not a catastrophe for the City.”

The comments were welcomed by Lord Llewellyn, Britain's ambassador to France, who said it showed that it was in the both countries' interests to strike a good Brexit deal.

Mr Noyer ran the Bank of France from 2003 to 2015.