Andrew Tate’s lawyers formally requested written assurances from the Crown Prosecution Service that he would not be arrested if he returned to the United Kingdom to give evidence in a civil case in which four women accuse him of rape. The CPS refused that request. The disclosure was made at a preliminary hearing in the high court on Tuesday and confirms that Tate remains effectively unable to set foot on British soil without facing immediate arrest.The CPS wrote to Tate’s legal team stating there was no reason to withdraw the existing arrest warrants to allow him to return for civil proceedings, The Guardian reported.The service made its position clear: If either Andrew or his brother Tristan Tate chose to return to the UK voluntarily they would be arrested. Matt Jury, a lawyer representing the four women bringing the civil case, said in a witness statement that it now appeared extremely unlikely Tate would ever return to Britain voluntarily. He noted that both brothers had already applied to give their evidence remotely from the United States.The civil case in which the four women accuse the Tate brothers of rape, coercive control and assault is separate from the criminal charges already filed against them. The CPS charged the brothers last May with 21 criminal offences between them including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking. Andrew faces 10 of those charges and Tristan faces 11. Both deny all wrongdoing.The high court also heard that the Tates are seeking a stay in the civil proceedings arguing that the civil case as it develops could seriously prejudice their criminal defence. Mrs Justice Lambert indicated on Tuesday that the June civil trial date would be delayed with a regrouping planned for July and a more substantive hearing possible before the end of the year.A reinvestigation of separate criminal allegations including rape made in 2015 by three women will not be restricted to existing evidence and could result in new witnesses and further alleged victims coming forward.The brothers face criminal proceedings in Romania as well. They were arrested in December 2022 and charged with human trafficking, rape and forming an organised criminal group. Romanian prosecutors initially held the pair in custody before their detention was reduced to house arrest and later to regular police check-ins. Those restrictions were lifted last month leaving both men free to travel. The CPS has agreed the brothers will not be extradited to Britain until the Romanian criminal proceedings are concluded. Andrew Tate was in the United States at the time of Tuesday’s hearing and was said to intend returning to Romania.Andrew Tate is also separately challenging the CPS’s decision to bring criminal charges against him in a legal action of his own. The first high court hearing in that challenge is scheduled for June 23 and relates to a Bedfordshire police investigation known as Operation Moonwalk.