EU referendum: 'Leave' vote edges ahead, pound falls sharply

London, June 24 

The 'Remain' side is now a little bit behind of 'Leave' as more than 500,000 votes from five voting stations were declared early Friday, resulting in the pound's lowest drop since 2009.

At 3.45 a.m., 'Leave' votes were ahead by over 500,000 votes, with the English shires and Wales voting strongly for Britain's exit - Brexit.

According to local media, a total of 266,721 people voted to leave the EU, while 259,790 voted to remain in the early morning, Xinhua news agency reported.

After first counting venue Gibraltar declared its result as 19,322 voted to stay in the EU and 823 voted to leave, another seven areas have also announced the results.

Orkney Islands voted to remain as 7,189 people voted to stay and 4,193 voted to leave.

There was a narrow Remain win in Newcastle after 65,404 cast votes prefer to remain and 63,598 in favour of leaving.

A big Leave win has been witnessed in Sunderland, northeast England city, as 82,394 voted to leave and 51,930 voted to stay.

Clackmannanshire and Isles of Scilly voted to remain, while Swindon and Broxbourne voted to leave.

Scotland and Northern Ireland appear to have opted for Remain and London has voted emphatically to stay in the EU.

Wales appeared to back Brexit, with a vote of 54.7 per cent for leave so far.

Results are starting to come in from the Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber or London and South East of England, where voting was disrupted by flash flooding.

The pound has dropped to its lowest level since 2009.

Since 3.35 a.m., it has fallen to $1.37 - which represents a move of more than 7 per cent from its highs of $1.50 earlier this evening.

The FTSE futures - a rough guide to the opening of the FTSE 100 - is now pricing in a fall of around 6 per cent when the index opens.

Unlike at a general election the results in individual areas do not count - it is the overall number of votes cast for one side or the other across the country that will determine whether Britain leaves the EU.