An Enfield citizens group has launched a campaign for a second vote on EU membership with an option to remain if UK is offered a bad deal.

Supporters of local pro-European group Enfield for Europe (EfE) took to the streets of Southgate on Saturday (April 14) to hand out postcards for people to send to local MPs asking them to back a public vote.

They also urged voters to back pro-EU council candidates and parties in the forthcoming local council elections on May 3.

A spokesperson said: “Brexit is a local issue and isn’t a done deal. Electing as many pro-EU councillors as possible on May 3 will signal to the Government that we won’t accept the damage that leaving the EU will do to local services.”

The group claims the borough stands to lose millions of pounds in EU funding if Britain leaves the EU, including money for infrastructure projects and financial support for local farmers and businesses.

Enfield also benefits from EU money for London-wide projects such as improvements to the London Overground rail network, which received loans totalling £236 million between 2015 and 2017, according to statistics came from the European Union and the House of Commons library.

Some 40 youth, employment skills and access-to-work schemes in north and east London have received £74 million from the EU.

The spokesperson added: “We now know claims by the Leave campaigns during the Referendum about the supposed benefits of leaving the EU, such as an extra £350 million a week for the NHS, were nonsense.

“Brexit could also threaten the Irish peace process by creating a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland and cause chaos at ports and airports if we leave the EU’s customs union and single market.

“Now the truth about Brexit is emerging, the people of Enfield and the UK deserve another say.”

Hugo Mann, field campaign manager for EfE’s affiliate national pro-EU group European Movement UK, said: “Thousands of activists from all over the country are campaigning to demand the right to a say on any final Brexit deal.

“No-one voted to be poorer, no-one voted for less money for our NHS and no-one voted for a £40 billion Brexit divorce bill.”

A campaign for a second vote on Brexit is also underway in Barnet, where Chipping Barnet for Europe has been lobbying members of the House of Lords to back amendments to the European Union Withdrawal Bill.

The group said it had received a “fantastic” response to its campaign.