David Cameron criss-crossed the country on Wednesday in a final effort to warn Britain's voters against rejecting the EU in the historic poll, that will also be read as a referendum on his premiership.

Cameron was joined last night by the former prime ministers Gordon Brown and Sir John Major, the Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, and the Green MP Caroline Lucas, in a final display of cross-party unity as the polls pointed to a close finish.

Appearing in his shirt sleeves, and with his voice breaking at times, the prime minister issued an impassioned personal plea to the public to reject the "untruths" of the leave campaign. He pleaded for voters to "put jobs first, put the economy first".