Leave' leads in early returns from Brexit vote

 

London, June 24  Britons voting to leave the European Union outnumbered "Remain" partisans by a margin of 6,931 in the first returns from Thursday's referendum.

"Leave" carried the day in the northeastern English city of Sunderland by 61 per cent to 39 per cent, amid turnout of 65 per cent. In Newcastle, just 21 km away, Remain prevailed by 50.7 per cent to 49.3 per cent with turnout of nearly 68 per cent, EFE news agency reported.

Voters in Gibraltar were massively in favour of staying in the EU and the Orkney Islands also ended up in the Remain column.

The city of Swindon, in the southwest, voted Leave by 55 per cent to 45 per cent. Voters in Broxbourne, a suburb of London, likewise opted for a British exit -- Brexit -- from the EU.

A YouGov poll released right after the polls closed showed the Remain side prevailing by 52 per cent to 48 per cent.