People on Teesside voted to leave the European Union because they felt disenfranchised, a UKIP councillor has said.

The leave vote was particularly strong in Hartlepool, where seven out of 10 people voted for Brexit. 

John Tennant, leader of the UKIP group on Hartlepool Council, described it as a forgotten town, which had lost a lot of its industry.

If you're just joining us, let us bring you up to date with what happened in the North East in the European Referendum result:

• In the North East, Newcastle was the first area to declare at about midnight. Voters in the city voted remain by the narrow margin of 1%.
• Sunderland came next with 61.3% voting leave and 38.7% remain (Leave campaigners pictured below in Sunderland). Following that result the value of the pound dropped.
• With all of the results declared, Newcastle was the only area which supported remain. 
• The leave vote was particularly strong in Hartlepool, where seven out of 10 people voted for Brexit.
• There were more than 1.3 million votes cast. 562,595 were in favour of remaining; 778,103 were in favour of leaving; 689 were rejected

Image source, Getty Images

Bridget Phillipson, the Labour MP for Houghton and Sunderland South, described the result to leave the European Union as "disappointing". 

She said: "It is a reflection on the fact that people in the North East feel that time and time again we're left behind.

"When it comes to jobs and investment, support from this government is found to be lacking."

Image source, PA

UKIP North East MEP Jonathan Arnott has given his reaction after the UK has voted to leave the European Union.

Richard Moss
Political Editor, BBC Look North

The Leave campaign expected to do well, but has done better than it might have thought, with only Newcastle voting to remain.

It perfromed particularly strongly on Teesside, with in Hartlepool seven out of 10 people voting for Brexit.

Labour is saying austerity is to blame, but Vote Leave says people didn't buy the scaremongering stories about job losses.

The UK has voted by 52% to 48% to leave the European Union after 43 years in an historic referendum.  

London and Scotland voted strongly to stay in the EU but the remain vote has been undermined by poor results in the north of England.

You can find local results by entering your postcode or council name on this page.

The picture of how the EU Referendum vote would go first started to emerge in the North East.

The first big moment came at midnight, when Newcastle declared for remain, but by a far narrower margin than expected - result below.

Minutes later, Sunderland declared with a 61 to 39 split in favour of leave.

Immediately aferwards, the value of Sterling dropped sharply by around 3% on the markets.

Voters across north-east England have given the thumbs down to European Union membership.

With all the results now declared - Northumberland the last in the past few minutes - people in 11 areas voted to leave. 

Newcastle was the only one supporting Remain, and that was by the narrow margin of 1%. 

Image source, Getty Images

Sunderland, Gateshead, Darlington, Durham, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Northumberland, Stockton, Redcar and Cleveland, North Tyneside and South Tyneside, voted leave, in most cases by a large margin. 

We're starting off early this morning to bring you up to date with all the results overnight from the EU Referendum - a night in which the UK has voted to leave the European Union.

North East results were among the first to be declared and voters here have given the thumbs down to European Union membership  - we'll bring you the story of how it all happened.

We'll be here until 18:00 bringing you news, sport, weather and travel from across the North East. 

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