HElston's new Euro-sceptic Conservative MP Derek Thomas has expressed his delight that the government has received support in Westminster for a referendum on EU membership.

The MP for St Ives has said he is glad his constituents, who live in an area considered deprived enough to receive the highest possible level of EU funding, can have a say over whether or not to leave the union.

He said: "The very first campaign I ran as a candidate was back in December 2007. I remember going to the Isles of Scilly as the most westerly point of the UK to call for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Soon afterwards,Gordon Brown signed the treaty and closed this window of opportunity, so I am thrilled and privileged to be one of 544 MP's who voted overwhelmingly for a referendum on membership of the EU."

A report in May last year said the county was among the poorest parts of Europe, behind areas of Poland, Lithuania and Hungary, despite having received more than £1 billion in EU funding.

Six years of investment from the European Regional Development Fund Convergence Programme has paid to roll out some of the fastest broadband in Europe, support the development of Newquay Airport, and helped the Combined Universities in Cornwall project, as well as supporting local employers such as Falmouth's Seasalt and Frugi in Helston.

Cornwall Council is expecting another tranche of cash worth more than €600 million, or £430 million, to be handed out through the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Programme between 2014 and 2020.

The Government's Referendum Bill, supported by 544 MPs on June 9, states that a referendum is to be held on whether the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union. The day appointed for the referendum must be no later than 31 December 2017 and the question that is to appear on the ballot papers is - "Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union?"

Mr Thomas said: "Now that the referendum is set in law and was so comprehensively supported by MPs, David Cameron has a real opportunity to renegotiate in the interest of us all. Prior to the election it was unclear if the Conservatives would be in government, no one expected us to win the majority we did.

"As a result Brussels had little reason to take the promise of a referendum seriously. Now that we have a majority and Labour has changed its position and supported the government, EU leaders are under far greater pressure to look seriously at our demands for repatriation of powers to Westminster and the British people."