SCOTLAND could have stayed in the EU after Brexit, while also remaining part of the UK, a top Brussels lawyer has claimed.

Professor Miguel Poiares Maduro, a former Advocate General at the European Court of Justice, said Scotland could have thrived if the UK Government had allowed them to stay in the EU.

The Scottish Governmnet had proposed a deal which would have allowed Scotland to remain in the single market after the rest of the UK leaves the EU, but Tory Brexit minister David Davis ruled it out, calling it unworkable.

Prof Maduro, was giving evidence to the European Parliament’s committee on Constitutional Affairs/ He told the committee: “There is another possibility that is to have that some UK citizens maintain citizenship of the European Union and other won’t.”

He added: “Nothing prevents a part of the United Kingdom to stay and another part of the United Kingdom to leave. We have a precedent with that — it’s called Greenland.”

Prof Maduro then went on to say: “We have the case of one member state where part of its territory left the European Union and the other part stayed. So in principle nothing would prevent the territories, for example, of Northern Ireland and Scotland to stay in the European Union and for the rest of the territory of the United kingdom no longer to be part of the EU.

“Of course this will be complex to organise in practice. It will require a border inside a member state because Scotland and Northern Ireland will remain part of the United Kingdom, but it will not be impossible.

But he admitted it would “politically problematic” and the consequences could make it difficult.

“One risk will be economic for the UK because naturally you will have, I would say for Scotland and Northern Ireland it would be extremely positive. It will attract lots of investment and companies will locate in these territories because they could benefit from both those markets.”