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Londoners have called for the capital of England to breakaway away from the rest of Britain following today's vote to leave the European Union.

The city went against the national trend by voting in favour of Remain - unlike vast swathes of the north of England and some Tory heartlands in the south.

More than 2.2million London voters backed Remain compared to 1.5million in favour of Leave.

The Leave vote hit the City of London particularly hard as a day of horror saw billions wiped off FTSE 100 shares.

Frustrated Londoners have now taken to social media to ask London mayor Sadiq Khan to declare the city independent from the rest of the UK and stay in the EU.

Richard Crowest tweeted: "London, of course, voted overwhelmingly to stay. So, the campaign starts here. Independence for London within the EU!"

Fearghal Kelly added: "Currently wishing London was surrounded by water #IndependenceForLondon."

A petition on Change.org started by James O'Malley states: "London is an international city, and we want to remain at the heart of Europe.

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"Let's face it - the rest of the country disagrees. So rather than passive aggressively vote against each other at every election, let's make the divorce official and move in with our friends on the continent."

The call comes as the result re-ignites the debate over a fresh Scottish independence referendum.

Every region north of the border also backed Remain having narrowly voted not to break away from the rest of the UK two years ago.

The shared desire to remain in the EU led some Twitter users to call for London and Scotland to unite under the #ScotLond hashtag.

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The appeal comes as the referendum result reignites the Scottish independence debate, after every region north of the border also backed Remain.

Within London, 28 boroughs voted in favour of remaning, while five followed the rest of England in backing Brexit .