BRITAIN'S former commissioner to the European Union visited Salisbury on Friday and urged divided voters to "unite" after the fallout that followed Brexit.

Lord Hill of Oaresford spoke at a business breakfast briefing held in aid of Arundells at the White Hart Hotel.

The politician said it was essential that people came together and planned for the future instead of dwelling on the past.

He said: "I voted to remain and I did not expect the result; I got it wrong, but I felt very quickly that it was a result that we had to respect.

"I think we must have close links with Europe, but we have to identify the priorities of the economy, what the options are, and what the government can do to support this."

Former prime minister David Cameron nominated Lord Hill as Britain's commissioner in 2014.

The peer was handed the key role of the Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union portfolio, before resigning from his post on June 25, 2016, two days after the referendum in which Britain decided to leave the EU.

The percentage of the vote in Salisbury matched that nationally, with 52 per cent of the parliamentary constituency backing Brexit.

In light of the decision, campaign groups sprang up across the country, with Salisbury for Europe an example of disgruntled voters who met to discuss Britain's break up from the EU.

But the former commissioner said Brexit was "far from being a catastrophe".

"The vote was not like the First and Second World Wars, the English Civil War, or even the Black Death.

"But in the same way the idea that the mere fact of us leaving is going to transform us into the land of milk and honey is not true either."

Lord Hill added that Britain is a "big and economically strong country", and the "question is now in our hands".

He said the decision to leave was made by the public, and there would be no second referendum.

"I was not one of those who thought about changing the result of the people.

"The test now is how to put it into effect and make a success of it, for Britain, and our neighbours."

The next event hosted by Arundells will be 'Memories of Flanders & Swann and Cabaret Time' on March 31, held at the Medieval Hall.

For more information call 01722 331440.