A WORLD-leading Oxfordshire science facility fears it could lose hundreds of top researchers after the Government announced it would pull out of a European nuclear-cooperation body.

The decision to leave Euratom, which provides 60 per cent of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy's funding, was denounced as bonkers by its former director, with science personality Brian Cox calling it 'terrifically stupid'.

There are also concerns it will trigger a flight of talent from the centre near Abingdon – which carries out experiments into producing fusion energy – with researchers uncertain about their future.

The announcement to quit Euratom, which caught the scientific community by surprise, was snuck into a footnote of the Brexit Bill currently going through Parliament.

Ministers claim the organisation is 'uniquely joined' to the European Union and cannot be untangled from Britain's impending exit.

The current director of the Culham centre, Professor Ian Chapman, said its activities were guaranteed until at least the end of 2018 but admitted it now faced a 'great period of uncertainty'.

He told The Oxford Times: "We know fusion is highly regarded and the Government recognises we have world-leading capabilities in the field.

"They want to continue work at Culham and there is also a willingness in Brussels to find a way through this.

"But obviously that does not help staff at the moment, because there is still this cloud of uncertainty over us, so the sooner we have a resolution the better."

Prof Chapman added it was 'plausible' the UK could become an associate member of Euratom or simply decide to operate the Culham centre independently.

He added: "These are soluble problems but there are no quick solutions. These things cannot be rushed in the nuclear world and must be done in a careful way.

"I cannot say more at this stage but we are in close discussions with ministers about the way forward."

The manner of the Government's announcement was described as 'stupid' by Prof Chapman's predecessor, Prof Steve Cowley, who said it had created panic.

Prof Cowley, now president of Corpus Christi College, said: "Everyone wants research at Culham to continue to, so I cannot believe this won't be resolved somehow in a positive way.

"But you have a bunch of people working there – some of the most extraordinary people – whose livelihoods depend on it and are highly mobile.

"What the Government has done is sowed uncertainty among those people and that is the big danger here."

His concerns were echoed by Ed Vaizey, MP for Wantage, who told the House of Commons on Tuesday night he had been 'inundated with countless emails from people who now believe their job is going'.

He said neither he, Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood, Henley MP John Howell or the Culham centre had been notified in advance of the decision to leave Euratom.

In an impassioned speech, Mr Vaizey added: "I am so angry with the Government on the position about Euratom.

"If ministers are are going to make an announcements like that in explanatory notes of a bill, at least they could alert relevant MPs beforehand and at least they could provide my constituents with a definitive statement about what the future of European cooperation on civil nuclear engineering is going to be.

"I hope they will provide me with some material to give my constituents who are literally worried about their jobs, who have bought houses in this country and want to know what the future is."

Ms Blackwood, former chairman of the Commons Science and Technology Committee, has also written to Robin Walker, a junior minister at the Department for Exiting the European Union.

She told him she was 'deeply disappointed' by the Government's handling of the situation, adding: "I share the concerns that withdrawal from Euratom will send a confused message about the UK's approach to nuclear, particularly at such a crucial time."

Both Mr Vaizey and Ms Blackwood have called for 'urgent' meetings with ministers.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Exiting the European Union said: "Leaving Euratom is a result of the decision to leave the EU as they are uniquely legally joined.

"The UK supports Euratom and will want to see continuity of co-operation and standards.

"We remain absolutely committed to the highest standards of nuclear safety, safeguards and support for the industry.

"Our aim is clear; we want to maintain our mutually successful civil nuclear co-operation with the EU."