BRITAIN’S “Brexodus” is gaining pace, MPs have claimed, after new figures showed the steepest fall in net migration on record in the year after the Brexit vote with EU citizens accounting for three quarters of those leaving.

Net migration - the difference between the numbers arriving and leaving the country for at least a year - was estimated at 230,000 in the 12 months to the end of June 2017.

This was a drop of 106,000, or around a third, compared with the 336,000 registered in July 2015 to June 2016.

It is largest decrease in net long-term migration in any 12-month period since records began in 1964, although it remains well above the UK Government's target of less than 100,000.

EU net migration fell by 82,000 to 107,000, which was described as a "statistically significant" drop, and was driven by a fall in the numbers arriving and a rise in those leaving.

Other statistics showed how the number of EU nationals applying for British citizenship had more than doubled; the rise by more than 108 per cent occurred as thousands of Europeans sought naturalisation following the Brexit vote in June 2016.

In the year ending September 2017, there were 32,856 applications for citizenship from EU nationals, up from 15,766 in the previous 12 months.

The SNP claimed the sharp fall in the net migration figure was a “direct result of the Tory Government’s hard Brexit plans” coupled with “ramped-up hostile rhetoric” towards meeting immigration targets.

“The UK has yet to leave the EU and already we are witnessing the disastrous impact Brexit is having on the UK as people from across the world are increasingly being driven away,” declared Stuart McDonald, the party’s immigration spokesman.

“The Tory Government’s blinkered approach to immigration and the many benefits that it brings is exactly why immigration powers should be fully devolved to Scotland, so that the Scottish Government is in a position to develop policies that meet our unique economic and demographic needs,” added the MP for Cumbernauld.

Labour’s Chris Bryant, a leading supporter of Open Britain, which campaigns for closer ties with the EU, said: “The Brexodus continues. Our economy and our currency are weak, EU nationals have been sent letters from the Home Office telling them they will be deported, and the Government has failed to guarantee the rights of EU nationals. All of this has made Britain a less attractive place to live and work.”

Sir Ed Davey for the Liberal Democrats noted: “The Conservative pursuit of an extreme Brexit is crashing the economy and making the country a less attractive place to be.”

He said Britain had been attracting some of the most talented and hard-working people in the international labour market “but now we are seeing clear signs of a Brexodus as Theresa May stalls on guaranteeing the right to remain of EU citizens, leaving many feeling unwelcome”.

But Brandon Lewis, the Immigration Minister, stressed: "With more Europeans continuing to arrive than leave, these figures show that claims of a 'Brexodus' are misguided.

"At the same time, there is no consent for uncontrolled immigration. We welcome the ongoing decrease in net migration levels and remain committed to bringing them down to sustainable levels, the tens of thousands."

Nicola White, head of migration statistics at the Office for National Statistics, pointed out how the figures showed more people were still, overall, coming to the UK than leaving.

She noted how while the number of people immigrating for a definite job had remained stable, there had been a 43 per cent decrease in the number of people immigrating to look for work over the last year, especially among EU citizens.

"These changes suggest that Brexit is likely to be a factor in people's decision to move to or from the UK but decisions to migrate are complex and other factors are also going to be influencing the figures," she added.