After Cornwall awoke last Friday to news that Britain would be leaving the European Union, the county's councillors launched a plea to politicians to replace any funding that might be lost.

With an average of £60 million a year coming to Cornwall from the EU, and a recent budget pledging a further €592 million - or £489 million - from 2014 to 2020, the council is urging Westminster to guarantee it will not lose out as a result of Brexit.

In a press release on Friday morning, the council said it had been reassured by the Leave campaign that Cornwall "would not be worse off" financially and it was seeking "urgent confirmation" from ministers.

Despite being one of the most economically deprived areas in Europe and receiving the highest level of EU funding as a result, Cornwall voted 56 per cent leave compared to 44 per cent remain, more strongly Eurosceptic than the nation as a whole which saw 52 per cent vote to leave.

The council said it would be studying the impact of the decision on Cornwall, which it said had "received significant amounts of funding from the EU over the past 15 years," and added: "we will be seeking confirmation that this allocation, based on need, will continue in the future."

John Pollard, the leader of Cornwall Council, said: "Now that we know the UK will be leaving the EU we will be taking urgent steps to ensure that the UK Government protects Cornwall’s position in any negotiations.

"We will be insisting that Cornwall receives investment equal to that provided by the EU programme which has averaged £60m per year over the last ten years."

A spokesperson said the council was seeking clarification over whether funds from the EU would continue during the two year negotiation period which would precede any final withdrawal from the union.

Falmouth and Truro MP Sarah Newton said she was "personally disappointed" with the result but her first priority now was to "ensure" that the government honours the £500 million of promised EU funding.

Jonathan Stokes, the coordinator of the Leave campaign in Falmouth, denied that there would be an issue as there was "no such thing as EU funding for Cornwall" as it was money sent to the EU from the UK in the first place, and he was confident that the county's Conservative MPs "can deliver a good deal for Cornwall."

He said that he was "confident that NHS spending will be increased," despite UKIP leader Nigel Farage saying that a promise of £350 million for the service should not have been made.

In a statement, he added: "I am immensely proud of my team and the professional way we fought the campaign. I am grateful to the people of Cornwall for choosing freedom and democracy – allowing us to rebuild our fishing industry especially. Now is a time for unity and working together to strengthen this wonderful county."

George Eustice, MP for Camborne and Redruth and a member of the Leave campaign, said: "The precise details of our exit from the EU will be settled once a new Prime Minister is in place and negotiations commence. However, during the campaign every government minister on the Leave side signed a joint letter pledging to continue to fund all of the activity the EU currently undertakes on our behalf, like structural funds in Cornwall, until at least 2020 and, of the money that is left over from our net contribution to the EU, we would commit around £5.5 billion to the NHS by 2020."

Kim Conchie, chief executive of Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, said on Friday that the organisation was committed to "supporting and inspiring businesses through any changes that might now happen," and the British Chamber of Commerce would "keep their ears to the ground" for any changes which could help their members.

He added: "Britain is the world’s fifth largest economy [downgraded to sixth since the referendum result hit markets] and is in a powerful position to look afresh at new markets as well as refreshing trade agreements with European countries."

And Sandra Rothwell, chief executive of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership, said the region still has an EU programme worth "some £500 million" and it was "critical" that it "is not short changed," as the Leave campaign "pledged to match it at least pound for pound to 2020."

Falmouth's mayor, Grenville Chappell, said: "If we come out we will not know what it’s going to be like for some time yet and if we stay in we equally won’t know.

"Our wonderful politicians have given us a lot of misleading information so we just don’t know what to believe.

"It’s going to be a long, long time before the effects of this spreads down from government to the town council.

"It’s not going to be a rapid change, but something we are going to have to keep an eye on."

While Penryn's mayor Mark Snowdon claimed to be non-political, he did say: "Something tells me Cornwall will be much worse off in the long run.

"Can you honestly see Westminster - whoever is in power - pumping investment into Cornwall at the same rate the EU has been?"

Mebyon Kernow, the party for Cornwall, called on the people of Cornwall to come together and demand that Westminster politicians do not sell Cornwall short, as party leader Councillor Dick Cole said the party was "disappointed that a majority of voters... voted to leave the European Union."

He added: "We all know that Cornwall is one of the poorest parts of the UK and it suffers from under-investment from central government. We must campaign hard to ensure that Cornwall will, in the future, receive investment at least equal to that of the EU programmes."

As the leader of the Scottish National Party said the decision could lead to a second referendum on Scottish Independence, Mr Cole said Mebyon Kernow would continue to focus on its campaign for "meaningful devolution" and a National Assembly for Cornwall."