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A law professor who accused Brexit campaigners of “dishonesty on an industrial scale” had the perfect response when he faced a torrent of abuse from anti-EU trolls.

Prof Michael Dougan, an EU constitutional law expert at Liverpool University , delivered a withering attack on the Leave campaign ahead of last week’s referendum.

In a video that went viral, he accused Brexiteers of “dishonesty on an industrial scale” and said they caused “untold damage to our democracy”.

His criticism of the Brexit campaign sparked a flurry of abusive emails – some from people accusing him of being in the pocket of the EU and others making racist remarks about his Irish heritage.

In a hilarious auto-reply from his official university email account, the professor says: “Thank you for your message. I am currently receiving an exceptionally high volume of emails and there may be a delay in replying to you.

“Sincere apologies if I do not manage to reply individually to the many thousands of messages I have received from my fellow citizens, including those now deeply concerned about the outcome of the referendum and its implications for themselves, their families and their country.

“If you have sent me an abusive message, e.g. falsely claiming that I am paid by the European Commission / that I have my snout in the EU trough / that I am only worried about saving my own job / that you hope I get deported sooner rather than later, please do not be offended if I do not treat replying to your message as a priority.

“If you have sent me a threatening email, or one containing racist abuse, I will report it to the police.”