INVESTMENT in the UK could be at risk if we decide to pull out of the EU, a senior figure has warned on a visit to the North-East.

James Bryce, deputy director for the British High Commission in Mumbai, said that Britain had benefitted hugely from foreign investment and suggested that could be under threat by political infighting over membership of the European Union.

He said: “Other countries are watching with interest. The UK has a right to decide its own policy on Europe but when I’m sitting in India part of the pitch is not just for the UK as a market of 60 million people but as a European entry point to a market of 450 million people.

“The UK has done well out of that. There is a link to British jobs. The UK has benefitted hugely from foreign investment and some of that isn’t just for the UK as the UK.”

The warning comes only days after Hitachi signed a contract to build a train factory in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, which will supply the rest of Europe. The £82m investment will create 730 jobs, with the potential for thousands more the in supply chain, and bring train building back to the region.

Speaking after a conference to mark the end of export week, Bill Oliver, lead trade advisor for UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), said: “In Europe 25 per cent of small and medium enterprises export, in the UK it’s only 20 per cent. Of those who don’t export 72 per cent aren’t even considering it so it’s about educating them and saying that the opportunities are there.

“There are huge opportunities in oil and gas in Brazil and West Australia, for example. Part of our job is to channel those opportunities into SMEs and companies in the region but also to develop all the SMEs that can export into exporting.”

Dr Marie Wilson, UK Trade and Investment’s regional representative, added: “We are the only region in the UK to be a net exporter, to the value of just over £13bn. We did tip over into just over £14bn so we need to get back to where we were, but overall it’s a really positive story for the North-East.”