'IMMIGRANT-obsessed old people in Dorset church halls' made up a powerful section of the Brexit vote, a Lib Dem heavyweight has said.

Sir Vince Cable, who is on course to become the party's next leader, said OAPs worrying about "80 million Turks coming to Britain" - even though they've 'never met an immigrant' - were one of the key factors behind the decision to leave.

But the Tory MP of Christchurch, where 58.8 per cent of voters, or 18,268 people, opted to leave, called Sir Vince's comments "irresponsible".

Chris Chope said: "These people make judgements in elections and referenda on a serious basis.

"The problem with Vince Cable is that he has refused to accept the verdict of the people.

"He is trying to destabilise the Brexit process and undermine the solidarity of the UK in ensuring we get the best possible terms of exit.

"All he is doing is trying to give succour to the people in the rest of Europe [when the EU is] trying to make an extortionate amount of money from us with unrealistic demands for cash."

Sir Vince said there was undoubtedly a mixture of factors, with left-behind voters in northern towns "clearly disaffected" since the financial crisis.

The former business secretary said the Tory-Lib Dem coalition, of which he was a part, had helped the economy recover but acknowledged there was still a lot of hardship among those communities with pressure on real wages and people "dissatisfied".

But he characterised much of the Tory Brexit vote as older people he met in church halls in Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire, and suggested they had been sold lies.

He told a Westminster lunch: "They were overwhelmingly elderly people who were obsessed by the worry of 80 million Turks coming over and being in their village, immigration was a massive issue for them although they never actually encountered any.

"I'm putting it slightly facetiously, but in that age group, which was a very powerful one, mostly Conservative voting, there was a sense of nostalgia - the Britain that they'd been brought up in and loved and were comfortable with was no longer there."

Mr Chope said: "The Lib Dems did very badly in the general election in terms of share of votes.

"They were the only party in effect arguing against the referendum outcome and they continue to do that.

"They see they as being an area where they can distinguish themselves from other parties.

"[Sir Vince] has been given a disproportionately large amount of coverage [in the news]."

How Dorset voted:

Christchurch: 12,782 people - 41.2 per cent - voted to remain. 18,268 people - 58.8 per cent - voted to leave.

East Dorset: 24,786 people - 42.4 per cent - voted to remain. 33,702 people - 57.6 per cent - voted to leave.

Bournemouth: 41,473 people - 45.1 per cent - voted to remain. 24,339 people - 54.9 per cent - voted to leave.

Poole: 35,741 people - 41.8 per cent - voted to remain. 49,707 people - 58.2 per cent - voted to leave.

Purbeck: 11,754 people - 40.9 per cent - voted to remain. 16,966 - 59.1 per cent - voted to leave.

North Dorset: 18,399 people - 53.6 per cent - voted to remain. 23,802 people - 56.4 per cent - voted to leave.

Weymouth and Portland: 14,903 people - 39 per cent - voted to remain. 23,352 people - 61 per cent - voted to leave.

West Dorset: 31,924 people - 49 per cent - voted to remain. 33,267 people - 51 per cent - voted to leave.