Nearly 1,500 people have signed a petition calling for Cambridge to secede from the United Kingdom and become a city-state attached to the European Union (EU), following the outcome of Thursday’s referendum.

The petition, on change.org, says that “The entire economy of the Greater Cambridgeshire is reliant upon the University of Cambridge, high tech science and technology industries, and allied professional services firms.”

It had 1,478 signatures at the time of this article’s publication.

It asserts that “These firms and industries rely upon being inside the EU to operate at a competitive level”, which it says “can not be put at risk by the Referendum result”.

Cambridge overwhelmingly backed Remain, with 73.8% of voters rejecting Brexit.

The petition is light on details about how such an arrangement could be enacted, but suggests that “Arrangements with the United Kingdom could be worked out via a bilateral treaty similar to the Anglo-Irish agreements following secession”.

It follows similar calls from residents of London, where the majority voted to Remain, to split off from the rest of the country. Following the vote outcome in Scotland, it was proposed by some social media users that the two could merge to form “Scotlond”.

Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner has expressed his dismay at the result of Thursday’s vote, saying “I'm delighted Cambridge voted so strongly to remain, but I'm very disappointed with the overall result and I feel many people in Cambridge will be deeply dismayed and shocked by what's happened”.

"The challenge for Cambridge now is to make sure we do everything we can to secure our international position, re-establish our relationships that will be put under strain by this vote, which I'm sure Cambridge will be able to do – but this will make it a whole lot harder.

"In general I think Britain is this morning a poorer, more vulnerable country, and that there will have been a chill sent throughout the whole of Europe. The trouble is it's not just us – there's a real danger of contagion.”

It is as yet unknown whether Zeichner supports the idea of a Cambridge city-state.