PRO-EUROPE campaigners will today demonstrate against a hard Brexit as Article 50 is triggered.

Protesters will link arms outside Hove Town Hall at 6pm as Prime Minister Theresa May triggers the two-year countdown to leave the European Union.

The event is a joint initiative from local pro-European campaign groups Open Britain and Brighton and Hove for Europe.

Ian Lovering, of Open Britain, said: “This Government’s pursuit of a hard Brexit will be bad for Brighton and terrible for the country.

“We have a large, international population here whose rights are being threatened.

“We have a local economy dependent on the free movement of people, goods and services that the EU’s single market makes possible.

“Anything that risks access to that market will damage our wonderful diverse city.”

The UK will refuse to hand Brussels £50 billion to pay for its divorce from the European Union, Brexit Secretary David Davis has insisted.

EU chiefs are expected to seek an early agreement on an exit fee.

But Mr Davis said the UK would meet its obligations – though he did not expect to see “that sort of money change hands”.

Meanwhile London’s powerhouse financial sector is braced for a jobs exodus, fearing traders will lose European trading rights following Brexit.