THE shock implications of Brexit for Worcestershire have been revealed - with fears £25 million could be lost.

Last month's sensational EU referendum vote has led to Government officials anxiously trying to establish what it means for the economy.

It can now be revealled that a whopping £52 million of European cash was promised to this county before the vote, but £25.5 million of that has yet to be spent.

The 'at risk' cash includes crucial investment into new businesses, farmers, improving people's skills and creating employment opportunities.

Council chiefs and business leaders now face a race against time to spend as much of the cash as possible, saying the 'at risk' element of the money is likely to reduce the longer Brexit takes.

But there are no guarantees that Worcestershire will not end up many millions out of pocket once Article 50 - the process for exiting the EU - is triggered by Prime Minister Theresa May.

Mrs May is being tipped to trigger Article 50 within six months, as officials have started early talks about trade deals with other countries on the basis Britain will be out of the EU by January 1, 2019.

The £52 million award is known as 'European Structural and Investment Fund' money, with Worcestershire's sum due to be spent for the period between 2014 and 2020.

The vast funding is meant to touch all areas of life, from new start-up firms in rural areas to colleges looking to train up workers, university researchers, medium-sized enterprises looking to expand, environmental initiatives and much more.

Gary Woodman, from the county's LEP, said: "These funds are crucial in supporting the county's organisations and businesses, and at present it is business as usual."

He said the LEP was still openly calling for organisations to bid for the cash despite the uncertainty.

Some of the ‘open calls’ for bids currently include money for organisations to improve access to IT, projects to boost rural tourism, business advice to small and medium-sized firms and help for farmers to diversify – all from the pockets of the EU.

Councillor Simon Geraghty, the leader of Worcestershire County Council, said: "As an organisation we will continue our planned investments and if there's an issue, we will deal with it at the time.

"We're still paying into the EU and will still be able to withdraw money from it until that ceases to be the case."