Ian Botham has come out to bat for the Vote Leave team, warning the UK could become "cluttered" if it does not withdraw from the European Union.

The former England cricketer was attending a Vote Leave event in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, with Boris Johnson and said he felt power had been "eroded by Brussels". 

"We have a chance to govern ourselves again, look after our own borders. I just think we are losing our identity and eventually we'll get swallowed up," Botham said.

He acknowledged there could be "teething problems" if the UK voted to go it alone, but he suggested if the country was being invited to join the bloc now it would "give it a very wide berth".

When asked if he had any concerns that jobs could be lost due to a Brexit, he said: "If we stay, who's going to get those jobs?

"The people coming into our country, they don't seem to have to come over with a job, any qualifications, just turn up. I think it will get cluttered.

"If you want 100 million people in this country, then so be it if that's what you want, do it. But I don't think people really want that."