AN UNPRECEDENTED public petition calling for the Article 50 to be revoked amid Brexit delays was backed by thousands residents of Bolton.

The petition, which is urging for the country to remain in the EU, gained hundreds of thousands of signatures within hours after the Prime Minister’s speech to the public on Wednesday night. The petition currently has 3,304,581 signatures in total and has far surpassed the 100,000-signature threshold needed for it to be debated in Parliament. It proved so popular it broke the official government petitions website.

Across the three constituencies of Bolton, 2,615 people signed the petition as of yesterday afternoon.

The petition reads: “The Government repeatedly claims exiting the EU is ‘the will of the people’.

“We need to put a stop to this claim by proving the strength of public support now for remaining in the EU. A People’s Vote may not happen – so vote now.”

The petition was most popular in the Bolton West district, represented by Chris Green MP — 1,162 people put their names to the frantic call for a halt to Brexit.

In Bolton South East, represented by Yasmin Qureshi MP, the petition was least popular in the borough, with 555 people signing. This figure marked one of the lowest results for the petition in the North West.

Finally, Bolton North East, represented by Labour's Sir David Crausby MP, saw 898 people support the message.

Sir Crausby, in response to the petition, said: "It clearly demonstrates the frustrations of people in the way that these negotiations are going.

"The problem with absolute revocation of Brexit is that it would just continue to divide us, we need to seek an agreement not just between parliamentarians but for the people of this country.

"I don't know if [the petition] will ever reflect the size of the vote in 2016 but it should be a guidance to all politicians that we need to listen to the people.

The Bolton results could mark a renewed support for the Remain campaign in the area. In the referendum, Bolton voted to leave the EU, 58.3 per cent of voted to 41.7 per cent.

Across the North West, the petition also sparked action from thousands. Bury North and South combined made up 3,045 votes in favour of the petition.; The most supportive constituency in the region was Manchester Withington, with 5,020 people.

The highest figure across the country was that of Bristol West, where 8,970 people signed.