Thousands In London Anti-Brexit Protest

Thousands of people have been protesting outside the Houses of Parliament against the result in the EU referendum.

Groups of demonstrators were singing songs and chanting slogans, many of which were aimed at the leaders of the Leave campaign.

Shouts included "no more hate", "down with Boris", "leaders not liars" and "there's no plan", according to several posters on Twitter.

The crowd also sang 'Hey EU', to the tune of The Beatles song 'Hey Jude'.

Sky's Jason Farrell said the protest, which had been organised on social media but then cancelled, was much bigger than the pro-Corbyn demonstration held in Parliament Square on Monday night.

Conservative business minister Anna Soubry, a Remain campaigner, briefly joined the group.

To loud cheers, after someone came up with a portable public address system, she told the crowd that her mother and her two children had cried over the result of the referendum.

"People are angry, not just the young. People of all ages across the country are angry. And I am so sorry because I don't know what the soluition is to it," she said.

She went on to address the issue of a rise in reported hate crimes since the UK voted out.

"If you hear anyone being abused, report it to the police. Tell your MP and fight back," she said.

The protest comes as a petition calling for a second referendum in the event of a vote of less than 60% if the turnout is lower than 75% neared four million votes.

Sky's Farrell said there was clearly a lot of anger in the crowd.

"They are shouting 'Liars, liars', clearly referring to the Out campaign, they are also shouting 'migrants in, racists out'.

"And there are various images of Nigel Farage, one next to (Harry Potter villain) Lord Voldemort.

"It's fairly good natured, I have to say. But there is also a police presence here.

"There's no one who seems to be organising this protest. There's no one speaking. They are just chanting and singing. It seems to be something that has just popped out of nowhere."

Earlier, the crowd had gathered in Trafalgar Square and were addressed by Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron.

"As in life, two things are always the case for me. One, if you lose, always have the grace to accept defeat, but you never ever ever give up," he said.

"We, as a community, must stand together. This is reversible. The people of Britain are decent outward looking people. We will carry on campaigning."

In Cardiff, hundreds of people turned out for speeches from Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood and racial equality activist Shazia Awan as well, as a performance by Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys - who performed a song called I Love EU.

"We have to hold the leave campaigners to the vow they made during the EU campaign, including an extra #350 million for the NHS every week," Ms Wood said