'˜Brexit means bigger border mobile phone bills'

Mr Hastings, who is Vice Chair of the North West Cross Border Group, said it was clear that the British Government had no idea of the real depth of the border challenge and how many areas of cooperation Brexit threatened to sever.

He said: “As a result of our combined membership of the European Union, people in the North and the South no longer pay mobile roaming charges on calls, texts or data. And even before that, EU directives saw a cap on the costs for roaming charges.

“Theresa May’s order that Britain should leave the digital single market may mean that she has to pay more on a trip to the south of France but it will have a significant impact on people living in border communities or those who cross the border for work here.

“People living in border communities or working across the border are aware of how often their phone switches to a southern network, depending on which phone mast they’re closest to. They have genuine cause for alarm at the prospect of a return to roaming charges, especially those in a non-EU state.

“A van driver travelling south for work could soon face a call from Dublin costing the same as one from Dubai - around 30 times the cost before roaming charges were abolished.

“And the difference in mobile data could be even more unsettling. Surfing the internet on your phone in Navan could return to the same cost as in New York – over 100 times more expensive than before charges were scrapped.”