Over 50,000 EU citizens apply for settled status in a day to beat deadline

Exclusive: Home Office receives fivefold daily rise in applications as people tell of fear and anger

There was a fivefold increase in applications by EU citizens for UK settled status on Wednesday, with more than 50,000 people scrambling to beat the midnight deadline, it has emerged.

Such was the last-minute rush that the Home Office extended the time applications would be accepted to 9am on Thursday.