Tourism representatives from Cumbria are set to meet with the immigration minister over concerns the sector will be left with "gaping holes" in staffing post-Brexit.

Later this month Lake District Hotels Association Joe Cobb, Jennifer Cormack and Stephen Broughton, representing Lake District Country Hotels, Windermere Lake Cruises and Lindeth Howe Hotel respectively will meet with Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes.

They will voice their concerns over the Government’s Migration Advisory Committee plans to impose a minimum salary threshold of £30,000 per year on all EU workers.

They say this would make it very hard for tourism businesses in Cumbria to employ enough workers to meet demand.

Although UK Hospitality are lobbying for the threshold to be lowered to £22,000 the LDHA says a recent survey shows that locally most EU workers are earning up to £5,000 less than this.

The survey also showed that on average just 41 per cent of staff would meet the requirements.

If non-EU migrant workers are included in the proposed salary threshold, the figure would drop to just 37 per cent.

Joe, who is chair of the LDHA, said: "Fifty-nine per cent of our staff are EU Nationals, we will be left with a gaping hole with nobody to fill the gap.

He added the committee was “seemingly disconnected with the effects this could have not just in the hospitality sector, but on food, transport, retail, health and social care and farming to name a few."