ALMOST 24,000 people in Gwent signed a petition calling for a second referendum into the UK's membership of the European Union, it has been revealed.

A petition calling for a second referendum to be held if turnout was less than 75 per cent was signed by 4,144,987 people following June's vote.

Figures on the UK Government's petition website show 4,551 of these were from Newport West and 2,990 from Newport East, 5.3 and 3.8 per cent of the electoral roll respectively, along with 6,038 in Monmouthshire, the only Gwent constituency where Remain received more votes than Leave, or 7.2 per cent of registered voters in the area.

The petition was also signed by 3,639 people in Caerphilly, 4.2 per cent of the electoral roll, 2,596 in Torfaen, 2,430 in Islwyn, both representing 3.2 per cent of voters in the areas, and 1,751 in Blaenau Gwent, or 2.5 per cent of the population.

But pro-Brexit Monmouth MP David Davies slammed the petition, saying the referendum result should be respected.

"I was on the losing side in the Assembly referendum (in 1997) but I didn't call for a second referendum then," he said.

"People need to get over this.

"There would be an absolute outcry if MPs ignored what the public said and just carried on."

MPs debated the petition in Parliament on Monday, where the call for the second referendum was thrown out.

In a statement the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "The referendum was one of the biggest democratic exercises in British history with over 33m people having their say.

"The Prime Minister and government have been clear that this was a once in a generation vote and, as the Prime Minister has said, the decision must be respected.

"We must now prepare for the process to exit the EU and the government is committed to ensuring the best possible outcome for the British people in the negotiations."

The petition itself was started by a supporter of the Leave campaign, William Healey, who set it up before the result was declared.

But this appears to have backfired, with the petition receiving more signatures than any other in history.