Former Conservative leader Lord Howard has called on Prime Minister Theresa May to guarantee that EU nationals can stay in the UK after Brexit.

Lord Howard told peers that the UK should not wait for other countries to make the same offer about UK citizens.

His comments came after the French Ambassador Sylvie Bermann said that people from her country has suffered abuse in the weeks since the referendum and now felt like "foreigners".

Lord Howard said: "I think the Government should make it clear now that those EU citizens who are currently living in this country would be allowed to stay in this country, would be allowed to carry on working in this country, would be allowed to carry on studying. I don't think we should wait for any question of reciprocity."

Mrs May has said that she is not seeking to exclude “the brightest and the best” from coming to work in the UK.

But she has said she can give no further guarantees before UK nationals have been told that they can stay in EU countries.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is among those who have called for EU nationals to be assured that they can stay.

Earlier, Philip Hammond said there was “no likelihood” that post-Brexit immigration controls would apply to EU workers who were highly skilled and highly paid.

The Chancellor said that voters had concerns about foreign workers “taking entry-level jobs”.