COUNCILLORS in York say the fallout from the UK's Brexit vote could create "a period of uncertainty" for Yorkshire's ambitions.

However, City of York Council leader David Carr said he believed investment would still come to York.

He said: "We need to accept the result and bring people together again. We will continue to run City of York Council and try to grow our economy and get the Local Plan through. Whatever happens in the future, York will attract masses of investment. It's a go-ahead place where people want to be and people want to invest.

"This is a massive challenge and challenge always brings some uncertainty. I think things will calm down a lot sooner than people think, and it will be very much business as usual. I have tremendous faith in this country. We are one of the most resourceful and successful countries on Earth and I'm absolutely convinced we will continue to be."

York's Labour leader Councillor Janet Looker said she was an enthusiastic advocate for working with Europe since the vote to enter the Common Market in the 1970s, but now expected the business sector to be "very unsteady", with companies "thinking very carefully about where they invest", and creating "for Yorkshire's ambitions, a period of uncertainty".

She said: "On a very personal level I'm gutted about the way it's gone. I knew it would be tight but I didn't think it would be quite so significant.

"On a personal level I'm appalled, on a national level I think we're entering a level of significant confusion which could last a year or so. The dust is finally settling while we discover the early implications of coming out of the EU. It's a very unpleasant way to find out which campaign was right."

Liberal Democrat Councillor Andrew Waller said he was worried Brexit could send the wrong message to European visitors.

He said: "A city like York, which voted to remain, is very dependent on tourism and shutting the door on a large number of tourists, of giving the impression that England isn't welcoming visitors, is really counter-productive.

"I think there's a huge amount of funding which was going to come to York through the EU, what's going to happen to that? Is all of that going to be filled with all of this mythical money that Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage are going to get in the future?"

Councillor Andy D'Agorne, leader of York's Green Party, said he was concerned about EU funding which had already been considered for projects in the city, and how likely that would now be.

He said: "The question there is what's the timescale for it all and how will that impact on the projects? Obviously it won't cease overnight, but I would imagine there will be a cut-off point.

"There also may well be implications on Government funding overall, like HS2 - will that now be kicked into touch? If the economy is taking a nosedive, no way we will devote millions of pounds to something like that."