MORE than 750 European people working in the National Health Service in Oxfordshire could leave their jobs because of Brexit, the Liberal Democrats have claimed.

They said this would create a bill of more than £4.7m to hire replacement doctors and nurses.

The figure is based on research by Channel 4 programme Dispatches, which found 42 per cent of NHS staff were considering leaving in the next five years due to Brexit.

The Lib Dems called for the Government to guarantee European Union nationals can stay in Britain after it quits the bloc.

Layla Moran, the party’s Oxford West and Abingdon candidate, said: “Hospitals in Oxfordshire depend on doctors, nurses and other support staff from the EU. We must guarantee their rights to stay here immediately to prevent a damaging exodus of these skilled and hard-working people. Our NHS, and the care we all rely on, would suffer without them.”

But Conservative candidate Nicola Blackwood defended the Government’s record. She said: “My parents worked in the NHS for decades and I know how valuable EU staff are to our heath service. Our manifesto commits to securing the rights of the 140,000 EU nationals working in our NHS as a priority, and I would hold ministers to account on this if re-elected.

“In Oxford West and Abingdon there are now 308 more hospital doctors, and 710 more nurses, than in 2010.”

Labour’s Marie Tidball said: “Discussions with employers in the constituency have shown they are already experiencing a significant drop in applications because of their fears of what hard Brexit will mean. I am campaigning strongly against the Conservatives’ vision for a hard Brexit.”