The leader of Plymouth City Council is hoping to force the Government to reveal the impact Brexit will have on the city through the use of new legal powers.

Tudor Evans is invoking the Sustainable Communities Act to force the Government to share any information it holds about what Brexit will mean Plymouth, even if it's considered confidential.

In a letter to local government minister James Brokenshire, cllr Evans called for: 'Immediate receipt by Plymouth City Council of all government departmental information and analysis pertaining to the impacts upon Plymouth’s communities and businesses of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, including any information deemed by the Government to be confidential.'

The council is thought to be the first in the country to use the Act in this way.

Cllr Evans explained: 'We've seen various dossiers released in the last few weeks. They have been at best woolly and do not address what Brexit means for individual communities.'

He added: 'Although we are the first council to use the act in this way, I don't expect us to be the last. I will be speaking to colleagues all around the country in the next few days to help put pressure on the government for answers.

'This doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. If there are advantages to Brexit then tell us so we can exploit them. But we must also know where there are disadvantages so that we can temper them.'