THE trigger was pulled on Brexit yesterday - with leading Worcestershire politicians insisting Britain has a "huge opportunity" outside the EU.

Theresa May's letter to invoke Article 50 was hand-delivered to European Council President Donald Tusk in a blaze of publicity at 12.29pm, starting the two-year process.

Worcester MP Robin Walker, a Brexit minister, was already well underway on a diplomatic charm offensive last night by ringing around EU figures to lay the early groundwork.

It comes despite Mrs May being accused of blackmail last night after she warned EU leaders that Britain could co-operate less over crime and terrorism if the bloc refused to strike a Brexit deal.

Mr Walker said: "I've got a long list of calls to make and a very busy week ahead, the objective is to touch base and reassure people in the right places.

"It's a momentous day. We're focused on making sure we get a positive outcome, which is in the UK's interests but also 'win-win' for the EU as well.

"From a diplomatic perspective this gives us a great opportunity to 'reset' some of the discussion and move it away from a confrontational tone, done via the newspapers to one which is constructive."

Nigel Huddleston, MP for Mid-Worcestershire, said: "Now the hard work really begins."

Mrs May yesterday told MPs it was her "fierce determination to get the right deal for every single person in this country".

"This is an historic a moment from which there can be no turning back," she said.

"We can take control of things that matter most to us and build a stronger, fairer Britain.

"This is our ambition and our opportunity and that is what this Government is determined to do.

"This great national moment needs a great national effort - let us come together and work together, let us together choose to build a Britain with optimism and hope."

Mrs May's letter, pictured below, reveals exactly how Article 50 was triggered.

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Elsewhere in Worcestershire yesterday, UKIP James Carver held a party at his Kidderminster office to "celebrate" Article 50 being triggered.

He called it a "day to embrace new opportunities", as activists headed to his office to signify the importance of the day.

"The greatest unquantifiable benefit of Brexit will be sovereignty - the re-establishment of the supremacy of our parliament and our courts," he said.

WORCESTERSHIRE MEP’S BREXIT WARNING

A WORCESTERSHIRE MEP fired a Brexit warning yesterday - saying the Prime Minister must get a good deal.

Labour's Neena Gill, who represents the entire West Midlands region in Brussels, said Theresa May risks running into huge problems during the negotiations.

"It's key we deliver some level of certainty, but I think the fear is that the Prime Minister has already ruled out several options which would have given us that," she said.

"To remain in the Single market, would have given farmers (for example) some degree of certainty.

Worcester News: West Midlands MEP Neena Gill. Photo: Dominique Hommel

"I actually think that by triggering the process now, we're going to have two years of uncertainty before we know the eventual outcome.

"Now we've got key sectors asking us, 'we can have exceptions because we can't survive without EU migrants'.

"The agricultural community is saying that, universities are saying that, and the health service, engineering and IT."

Elsewhere, West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin said: “We all want to see a Britain that is stronger than it is today, fairer so that everyone has the chance to succeed and safe and secure for our children and grandchildren.

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“Now is the time to move on from the events of the last year and ensure that we are no longer defined by the vote we cast, but by our determination to make a success of the result.”