Hundreds of people will attend a Brexit rally in Cambridge this Sunday to demand a people’s vote on the final deal.

University researchers and students are expected to be among those taking part in the event which will be held at Cambridge Junction at 2.30pm.

The People’s Vote campaign say new analysis shows “the potential devastating impact of Brexit” on research funding for universities and small businesses across the East of England.

The regions’ network of small and medium-sized businesses is a vital hub for innovation, research and development, and much of this success is supported by targeted research funding from the EU.

But because of Brexit, campaigners say that the region’s universities and SMEs now risk losing access to that funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.

It is the EU’s biggest ever research and innovation programme, with a total budget of £57 billion.

Cambridge University has benefited from 232 million Euros (£210 million) in EU research funding, including £68 million this year from the Horizon programme.

Similarly, Brexit also risks ending Britain’s access to the EU’s Erasmus programme.

The programme helps young people study or gain work experience in other European countries.

Daniel Zeichner, Labour MP for Cambridge will join comedian Mitch Benn and Labour peer and former Secretary of State Andrew Adonis in calling for a People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal.

They are expected to tell a capacity crowd that Brexit is a “bad deal” which is being “dumped on the doorsteps” of people across the East of England, but that people can take back control by demanding a People’s Vote on the final deal.

Former education minister Lord Adonis, a leading supporter of People’s Vote, said: “Brexit is now set to deliver a double-whammy for universities and SMEs across the East of England – losing millions of pounds in vital research funding, and curtailing opportunities for many students. They’re being robbed of the opportunities that studying and working in Europe brings, leading to a younger generation missing out.

“Brexit poses a real risk to the status and capabilities of our universities, who are supported by grants from the European Union to realise cutting-edge research projects.

“Any final Brexit deal that puts research funding and opportunities for young people at risk will damage our local economy and threaten innovation and job creation across the East of England.”