Tourists are being put off visiting Greenwich because of concern over Brexit, a top councillor has warned.

The split with the EU appears to be hampering the borough’s £1bn industry with less European visitors exploring the royal borough.

Stats from last year show that the Royal Museums in Greenwich have seen a two per cent decrease in visitor numbers.

At a council meeting on April 23, cabinet member for leisure Miranda Williams said that Brexit had caused a problem with attracting visitors to south east London.

Cllr Williams said: “Brexit has had a really bad knock-on effect on our visitor numbers.

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“There is no two ways about it. There is great concern in the sector about the utter uncertainty that it is creating amongst our international travellers and they are being put off.

“But still, by comparisons our averages are doing OK but Brexit is certainly not a good thing in terms of the tourism market.

“If you speak to the National Maritime Museum they will tell you that their bookings are right down. They were down last year, and they are down on two three years ago.

“That’s anecdotally and we will have to wait until the end of the year for the full figures.”

Attractions in Greenwich include the Royal Naval College, Greenwich Park and the O2 Arena.

The downturn in visitors appears to be in the last two years, with 2017 boasting a record breaking 19m tourists exploring the royal borough – high numbers than the Olympics in 2012.

About 16,000 people in the borough are employed in the tourism industry.

It’s hoped that the £35m Creative District in Woolwich will boost the sector and compete with arts venues such as London’s South Bank.

Greenwich Council has backed national calls for a people’s vote on Brexit, with leader Dan Thorpe previously warning the buck was being passed to local authorities.