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Provocative billboards urging motorists to “Halt ze German advance” by voting to leave the EU have been spotted next to a motorway.

Pictures of the bizarre posters were shared on social media by angry drivers who labelled them “xenophobic” and “miserable populism”.

The boards, which appear to have been snapped on the M40 in Oxfordshire, play on the stereotypical mispronunciation by German speakers of the word “the” while using the language’s word for “stop”.

In full they read: “HALT ze German advance” Vote Leave!”

The posters use the same logo as other promotional material put out by Vote Leave, the official campaign for Brexit.

But on Twitter, Vote Leave denied they were responsible for boards.

In a reply to one user, @vote_leave wrote: “These weren't put up by @Vote_Leave – we don't know who's done them, but hope they'll take them down.”

The group’s campaign director Dominic Cummings, who uses the Twitter handle @odysseanproject, blamed wayward Brexit supporters instead of pro-EU campaigners, tweeting: “They are NOT Vote Leave billboards, we don't know who put them up but think it's dummies on our side not [Britain Stronger in Europe].”