Claims by MEP Nigel Farage during a rally in Cornwall are being fact-checked for accuracy.

Cornwall Council said it was looking into the allegations made by Mr Farage during a speech this week at Carn Brea Leisure Centre, at which he claimed the county received “literally a miniscule sum on money” from Europe.

The leader of the Brexit Party went on to say that “Cornwall is doing very badly out of the European Union.”

The council is now urging the urging the government to share details of its plans to replace EU funding in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly like-for-like with a dedicated fund.

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has received investment from the EU programme averaging around £60 million a year over the last ten years, and the council said it “urgently needs clarity over funding” to make sure the region is no worse off after Brexit.

Cornwall Council leader Julian German said: “Cornwall Council is fact checking some of the claims made at a recent event.

“It would appear that Mr Farage has a fundamental lack of understanding about how the current EU programmes work and how our status as a ‘less developed region’ provides us with significant funds to invest in projects that help to improve the lives of residents across Cornwall.

“Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly receive annual funds amounting to around £162 per person, compared to £17 per person for most other areas of England. This is the highest per capita allocation of any region in England.

“Even using the most conservative method of measuring, we receive £248 million more than we contribute.”

The council said these figures were based on the total amount of funding from the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, which amounts to £550.74 million, divided by the latest Office of National Statistics figures for the popular of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, in 2018.

This does not take into account funding to land owners and farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy.

It went on to say that a large proportion of EU funds had been matched by the private sector and from public sources, such as the Growth Deal, Local Growth Fund and universities, which were drawn from general taxation, not from council tax.

Cornwall Council and the Council of the Isles of Scilly has provided match funding for some projects, and in the current programme period (2014 to 2020) this was worth around £60 million, helping to unlock more than £300 million of EU funds.

As part of a devolution deal, Cornwall Council now has control over the way European funds are spent in the region.

Projects have included the development of the A30, the rail mainlines from London to Penzance, Cornwall Airport Newquay, the Hall for Cornwall, Superfast Cornwall broadband, and the Combined Universities in Cornwall.