EU citizen's not from the UK can from today apply for settled status - removing concern for many about their future living and working here.

Hospitality, like the agriculture sector, has  raised its concerns about staffing since Britain voted to leave the EU, with many non-British staff already leaving the country.

Today (January 1), the initiative designed to deliver some certainty for staff, and therefore those businesses, opened its doors with applicants able to buy the right to remain for the tidy sum of £65.

Raymond Blanc, the celebrity chef whose name endorses Cheltenham's Brasserie Blanc and a man who came to these shores from his native France to make his name, welcomed the scheme.

"I have been in this country 46 years," Mr Blanc told BBC Radio this morning. "I raised my family here.

"This has been a big issue for us and I hope this will now give staff some certainty. The effects on the service industry have been huge.

"Some 2.9 million people are working in the sector, which is the backbone of tourism industry too."

"I believe this is a brilliant initiative. I believe this will work. People who have worked here for five years or more will now be able to confirm their status here."

His sentiments were echoed by the boss of the Italian-themed chain named after the late chef Antonio Carluccio - which has a restaurant at Gloucester Quays.

Mark Jones, CEO of Carluccio's, said the restaurant business would not exist without its founder making the journey from Italy to London.

Today the business employs an estimated 2,300 staff and announced earlier this month it would be paying for the 1,550 of those who are non-British EU employees to apply for the new settled post-Brexit status.

"We wanted to send our staff members a message that we really support them working for us," he told BBC Radio.

"We had a difficult 2018 and we could not have got through it without the help of our team."

It expects to spend £100,000 footing the bill.

"I have been in business 30 years and it will be the best £100,000 I have spent in that time," said Mr Jones.

It has been reported the Government has hired 1,500 new caseworkers and invested £175m in the scheme.