Gibraltar should not be used by Spain as a bargaining chip for Britain’s Brexit negotiations, the chief minister has said, as he insisted that it was perfectly possibly for Britain to leave the EU and Gibraltar to retain open borders.

Fabian Picardo was in New York to put forward Gibraltar’s position at the UN’s Fourth Committee – an annual gathering of “colonised” territories.

And Mr Picardo said that the meeting was more important than ever, given the June decision to leave the European Union.

“The current caretaker foreign minister of Spain, Sr Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, has said that he sees the Brexit vote as the best and possibly final opportunity for the Spanish flag to fly over Gibraltar,” Mr Picardo said.

“He says he sees the Spanish flag flying over Gibraltar very soon.