UK can't guarantee British citizens won't be hit with painful roaming charges after no-deal Brexit

Some networks have committed not to change their charges whatever happens

The government cannot guarantee that citizens won't be hit with expensive charges for using their phones in Europe in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to its contingency papers.

At the moment, an EU directive means that wherever British phone users go in Europe they will not have to pay to use their usual allocation of data, phone calls and texts. In practise, it means that using a mobile phone in Europe costs the same as doing so at home.

But that can no longer be guaranteed if a Brexit deal is not reached, according to the government's plans for such a scenario. As such, it is possible that users could be hit with substantial charges just for allowing their phones to connect to their network when they are abroad.

Roaming charges are capped to £45 at the moment, wherever their owners are in the world. That limit will remain, the papers say, because the government would legislate to force networks to comply with the rule.

The government said Britain's biggest operators – EE, O2 , Vodafone and 3 – had already said they had no current plans to change their approach to mobile roaming after Brexit.

Mr Raab told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We've had some good news from businesses like Vodafone and Three. They have publicly said they wouldn't introduce any roaming fees for UK consumers travelling on the continent.

"What we have said is we would like to see other companies following suit, but, in any event, we would legislate for a limit on roamingcharges to make sure in a no-deal scenario that we protect British consumers."