Petition calling for a second EU referendum so popular the website keeps crashing

A petition calling for a second EU referendum is proving so popular the website keeps crashing.

The petition already has over the 100,000 signatures needed for it to be debated in parliament, although this does not mean it will be.

A spokeswoman for the House of Commons said: “UK Parliament and the Government Digital Service are aware of the issue and are working on this to ensure the site is working well.

“The site was temporarily down for some users due to high volumes of users.”

The page, set up by William Oliver Healey, reads: “We the undersigned call upon HM Government to implement a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60% based on a turnout less than 75% there should be another referendum.”

The high number of visitors to the site caused the site to crash, with several users complaining on social media that they were unable to access the site.

Parliament is sovereign and, despite the Brexit win, Parliament is not legally obliged to invoke the Lisbon treaty to start an EU exit.