The leader of Bucks County Council says he is “pretty optimistic” for the future after the country voted to leave the European Union.

Cllr Martin Tett said the result – which saw 17,410,742 people (51.9 per cent) vote to leave the European Union – means the UK can “make an impact on the world again” but said the way Bucks residents voted was “interesting.”

He said: “I am excited and quite frankly I am pretty optimistic for the future. It is a great result because we can make an impact on the world again. Lots of our relationships have been made through the EU and now we can forge our own.

“It was interesting to see how people in the county voted. Chesham and Amersham residents voted to stay in even though their MP Cheryl Gillan is out, Wycombe voted to stay even though Steve Baker wanted out, Aylesbury voted to leave even though their MP is the minister for Europe and South Bucks voted to leave even though Dominic Grieve wanted to remain.”

The Chiltern district saw 83.6 per cent turnout, with 32,241 for remain and 26,363 for leave. South Bucks had 78.4 per cent turnout with remain on 20,077 and leave on 20,647.

Wycombe voted to remain, with 49,261 votes compared to 45,529 for leave.

Cllr Tett said it was “business as usual” for the county council and reassured residents that “everyone who is here from the European market has complete protection.”

The council leader also said he was “disappointed” that Prime Minister David Cameron has decided to resign following the result.

He said: “We should have had a period of political stability. I am very disappointed that he has stood down but it is important that we get a new government in because we need some political calm now.

“Everyone is full of gloom this morning about the stock markets, but I think we need to wait and look at it again in 48 or 72 hours. Already the pound is rising again. I think everything will settle down.”