European countries can’t agree on whether Brexit should be masculine or feminine, it has emerged, as language police on the continent seek to defend their pronoun choice.

In one of the most unexpected arguments over the UK's decision to leave the European Union France, Germany, Spain and Italy are locked in a battle over how Brexit should be pronounced.

And while the French, Germans and Spanish have all decided that the nation's decision to opt out of the 28 member-state group should be masculine, the Italians have backed the feminine version.