IN an astonishing plea, a number of high profile Germans, including the woman set to replace Angela Merkel as the next Chancellor, have told Britain that the “door will always remain open” if the UK ever wants to reverse Brexit.

In a letter to The Times, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, and two dozen others, including the heads of Germany’s main political parties plus leading figures from business, sport and the arts, urged the UK not to give up on the continent.

“After the horrors of the Second World War, Britain did not give up on us. It has welcomed Germany back as a sovereign nation and a European power,” they wrote.

“This we, as Germans, have not forgotten and we are grateful.”

“Britain has become part of who we are as Europeans,” the letter goes on.

“We would miss Britain as part of the European Union, especially in these troubled times.

"Therefore Britons should know: from the bottom of our hearts, we want them to stay.”

The letter said they respected the choice of the British people to leave, but if the UK decided to stay, “our door will always remain open”.

The German leaders went on to say: “We would miss the legendary British black humour and going to the pub after work hours to drink an ale.

"We would miss tea with milk and driving on the left-hand side of the road. And we would miss seeing the panto at Christmas.

“But more than anything else, we would miss the British people – our friends across the Channel.”

Kramp-Karrenbauer was the most high-profile signatory of the letter, but she was joined by Andrea Nahles, the leader of the Social Democratic party, the Greens co-leaders and the head of the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee.

The signatories also included the president of the Federation of German Industries and senior executives at Daimler and Airbus, as well as sporting and cultural figures such as the former German footballer Jens Lehmann and the singer Campino.