Nissan is to take Vote Leave to court in Britain, claiming the official Brexit campaign has misused its logo in a leaflet urging voters to support the Out camp on June 23rd.

The carmaker, which employs 6,800 people at its Sunderland plant, said it was going to the UK High Court in a bid to stop Leave campaigners using its name and logo and to "prevent them making any further false statements and misrepresentations concerning Nissan."

The company took the decision following an earlier complaint about campaign material and said it would be seeking an injunction.

On one "Vote Leave" flyer, the Nissan logo appeared next to those of four other major companies - including Unilever and fellow carmaker Vauxhall - with the message: "Major employers...have all said they'll stay in the UK whatever the result of the referendum."

Other companies known to have protested to the Leave camp about use of their names and logos include General Electric and Airbus.

Nissan said its position on the vote was clear - that it preferred the UK to remain in the EU but it was a decision for the British people.

Its statement read: "We were extremely disappointed to discover that the Vote Leave campaign had been using the Nissan name and logo in their literature and on their website without our permission. We immediately requested that they stop doing so."

"It has since come to light that the Vote Leave campaign continue to use our logo and trademark despite our repeated requests for them to stop."

"Permission to use our name and logo was not requested. If it was, it would not have been granted."

Vote Leave was yet to comment on the development.