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City chiefs today warned Londoners face traffic disruption as a pro-Brexit flotilla of up to 35 trawlers sails up the Thames to the Commons tomorrow.

The stunt being backed by Ukip’s Nigel Farage will mean Tower Bridge will have to be opened for 20 minutes at mid-morning.

The City bosses are also concerned that the iconic London bridge is being used for such a “politically charged event”. The flotilla is being organised by Scottish skippers as part of the Fishing for Leave campaign.

Between 30 and 35 trawlers are expected to travel up the Thames, through Tower Bridge and moor in the Pool of London. Dozens of smaller vessels are set to join it.

Boats will depart from off Ramsgate at 3am and off Southend at 6am, pass Gravesend at 7.30am and through Tower Bridge at 10am.

Mr Farage is due to board a small trawler in Southend-on-Sea at 5am to journey up the Thames in the flotilla. “It will be big, visual and dramatic. The demand will be clear: we want our waters back,” he said.

Twelve boats have been permitted by the Port of London Authority to continue up from the Pool to Westminster. They are due to arrive outside Parliament at 12.30pm as Prime Minister’s Questions, the last before the June 23 referendum, is taking place.

But the City of London Corporation is concerned about the impact of the event on traffic in the Square Mile, Tower Hamlets and Southwark.

“We have a legal obligation to open the bridge for larger vessels,” said a source. “However there is a high degree of concern at the large amount of traffic disruption this will cause and the use of Tower Bridge as part of such a politically charged event.”

A Ukip spokesman for Mr Farage said: “Of course it’s a political event — there’s a referendum on June 23 that matters passionately to millions of people across these islands.”