A group of 37 business chiefs have called on voters to choose to leave the "energy-sapping" EU.

Led by cake-chain Patisserie Valerie boss Luke Johnson, the entrepreneurs have said their success in business has come in spite of the EU, not because of it.

In a letter to The Sun on Sunday, they argued that business will thrive once they are freed from the "straitjacket" of Brussels.

Co-founder of Superdrug Peter Goldstein, homeware giant JML founder John Mills, and James Tanner, managing director of Tanners Wine, have also signed the letter.

They wrote: "We're confident that, unburdened by the energy-sapping European project, British inventiveness, flexibility and thoroughness will see the country thrive outside the EU.

"These attributes will ensure that our economic performance continues to outstrip that of the rest of the EU bloc."

Claiming that the EU is obsolete, the signatories claim the 28-member group has been superseded by global trade organisations but the EU sits on these bodies in Britain's place.

They added: "Brexit would allow us to retake our seat at the top regulatory tables."