An Italian woman has described her fears over Brexit and thinks the Mayor of London is the “only person that is fighting for Europeans”.

Adriana Farenga and her partner Donato Calace, from south Italy, both live in Leytonstone.

Ms Farenga has been in the UK for nearly a year and her partner for three.

As the Government still tries to reach a Brexit deal, the couple are worried about their future in the UK and their rights as EU citizens.

Ms Farenga, who is not married to her partner, said: “We are worried about our situation, whether we will be allowed to stay or whether things will change.

“I see people on social media making nasty racist comments, that we are here to steal jobs and that we should go away.

Last week the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, criticised the Government in a Facebook post over its handling of EU citizens following the vote to leave the EU two years ago.

In the post Mr Khan said that it was “reckless” of the Government to refuse to guarantee their settled status if Brexit negotiations break down.

The post received widespread reaction, with more than a thousand shares and numerous Europeans thanking the Mayor – including Ms Farenga.

Ms Farenga praised Mr Khan saying: “I think the mayor is doing a lot, he is the only one that is fighting for Europeans.”

She also feels that it is “totally unfair” of the Government to charge £65 for Europeans living in the UK to become British citizens.

Ms Farenga, who works in marketing, says that both she and her partner have skills, work hard and always pay their taxes.

Her partner, Mr Calace, works as the director of innovation at Datamaran Ltd where Ms Farenga also works – a company that develops ‘business intelligence tools’.

She added: “If we have to move it would be a big change for us, we are settled here.

“I’m sure we would be able to keep in contact with the people we know here but it still hurts.”

Other Europeans living in London have also shared their fears.

Fra Corso Torres, who is also Italian, lives in Lambeth and has been in the UK for 17 years.

He is “extremely worried” about his rights following Brexit and called the registration fee for Europeans to become British citizens “ridiculous”.

Mr Torres says attitudes towards EU citizens living in London has changed since the UK voted in favour of Brexit.

He said: “A hysterical rage against foreigners is spreading in the country and I don’t feel safe speaking Italian in public places.

“I am pretty sure that, if there is no deal, my rights here will simply cease to exist.”

Mona Lacour, who is from Denmark, lived in the UK for eleven years in Chiswick, with her two children who were both born in London.

She moved to the Hong Kong in 2015 to save money to buy a flat in London and to put her children through university.

Now she fears the family may never be able to come back.

Her husband is the only member of the family who has UK citizenship even though her children were born in London.

She said: “We just asked for British passports for our children and they were rejected. It’s hard to explain to them that they may feel English, but they aren’t.

“We paid our taxes and we thought that London was this amazing ‘melting pot’ where everyone was welcome.

“Now it seems we’re not welcome anymore, and it really hurts.

“We only left for a couple of years and now we don’t know if we can ever come back.”