COUNCIL leaders in south Essex have backed voters after they decided to take the UK out of the European Union.

Every district in the county voted to leave, with more than 999,283 people having their say at the ballot box - a turnout of 75 per cent.

Colin Riley, council leader for Castle Point, where 72.7 per cent of voters backed Brexit, said: “When you consider the whole of Essex voted to leave it shows we need to be listened to.

“We’ll reinvigorate the work we’ve been doing towards devolution. We have to run the council with clearer vision for a great Essex.”

Rochford Council leader Terry Cutmore said his district was heading into unknown territory after 66.6 per cent of its electorate voted out.

He said: “We are going to take forward the things that the British people want, which is independence from the EU.

“I think as an area, Rochford has got a lot going for it with investment for the airport and the new business park.

“Some of the grants that we get come from the EU, but we will have money from somewhere else.”

Southend Council leader John Lamb said the district’s 58.1 per cent vote in favour of leaving the EU was a “good result” for British democracy.

He added: “It has shown that people have thought seriously and made their decisions on what they believe is the right way forward.”

In Basildon, where 68.6 per cent backed Brexit, council leader Phil Turner said: “What the politicians need to do is now is not argue and squabble, it’s about going forward.

“The country has decided it wants out.”