BUSINESS leaders in Cumbria are calling for calm in the wake of the EU referendum result.

Rob Johnston, chief executive of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, was disappointed that prime minister David Cameron chose to step down almost immediately.

He said: “What we were asking for was some stability. We really don't want a Conservative Party leadership battle right in the middle of all this – we need space to put a plan together.

“The decision to leave the EU has been made.

“Now we need the machinery of government to get a plan in place ahead of the critical negotiations with the EU.”

He said the challenge for Cumbria was to ensure that, when the UK does leave, the government provides the funding the EU has supplied in the past.

He added: “Cumbria has been a net beneficiary of European funds. It has done very well out of Europe.

“We have to make sure that we get access to some of that funding through other routes.

"If we can do that, and we can remove some of the European bureaucracy around that funding, we can deliver better value for money.”

Adrian Rawlinson, managing director of Marl in Ulverston, backed the Leave campaign and was delighted with the result.

He said:"The EU is fundamentally flawed. They have had 40 years to create a vibrant Europe and have failed many of the communities, especially in rural areas, and especially for the young people of many different nationalities.

"But what the result demonstrates is a fundamental message that the people are not happy and the people have for once had the chance to speak.

"Out of our Cumbrian population of 500,000, 285,000 voted, 125,000 to remain and 160,000 to leave.

"But all six Cumbrian MPs and at least one MEP were all bleating at us to stay in the EU. Their duty is to listen and represent their constituents and they have failed to do that, remembering that the vast majority of wealth creation, job creation and innovation happens at the SME and micro-business level.

"It is a sad day for Europe, but to me inevitable, but despite the short term turmoil, it now gives us the chance to create an imaginative political, social and economic structure which can adjust to the threats and opportunities of the 21st century."

The National Farmers' Union said the leave vote would inevitably lead to a period of uncertainty in a number of areas that are of vital importance to Britain's farmers.

Steven Brettle, who is a group secretary for the NFU in the Ulverston and Cartmel area, with Andrew Pye, said: "The key battle now going forward following the result is for the NFU to aim to be instrumental in forming an agricultural policy, which is the best it possibly can be for UK farmers.

"This will require a vast amount of attention by the NFU and our members, and of course it will get our full support from ourselves as group secretaries."