It was released following a meeting of dignitaries including EU president Donald Tusk, parliamentary president Martin Schulz, Dutch PM Mark Rutte and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.

The EU’s top dogs told the UK to get out of the 28-member union quickly. They delivered a stark warning that until such a time as the political divorce goes through, Britain will be subject to all the treaties and agreements that go with membership.

“We now expect the United Kingdom government to give effect to this decision of the British people as soon as possible, however painful that process may be.”

They said “any delay” would “unnecessarily prolong uncertainty.”

“We have rules to deal with this in an orderly way. Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union sets out the procedure to be followed if a Member State decides to leave the European Union.”

David Cameron resigned at 8am on Friday, saying the process of an actual legal exit would fall to his successor, who would be appointed by autumn.

However, Boris Johnson – a Leave advocate currently favorite to be the next Tory PM – said there was no rush to leave, a point picked up by former Swedish PM Carl Bildt on Twitter.