HEREFORDSHIRE will mark the UK's departure from the European Union today with some people celebrating and others in despair.

Boris Johnson, meanwhile will hail the "dawn of a new era".

At 11pm today, bonds dating back to 1973 when the UK joined the European Economic Community will be broken, but the Prime Minister insists Brexit marks "not an end but a beginning".

Very little will change at the moment of Brexit as a result of the deal which Mr Johnson agreed with Brussels and the 27 remaining member states.

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But the UK faces further uncertainty as both sides seek to strike a trade deal by the end of the year.

In a symbolic move, Mr Johnson will chair a meeting of his cabinet in Sunderland, the city which was the first to back Brexit when results were announced after the 2016 referendum.

And in what Number 10 billed as an "address to the nation" released an hour before the moment the UK leaves the EU, Mr Johnson will attempt to sound an optimistic note about the future and promise to heal the divides which have been caused in the bitter Brexit battles.

As 11pm arrives, Big Ben will remain silent, despite a high-profile campaign fuelled by Mr Johnson, for repair works to be halted to allow Parliament's bell to ring.

In official events, Downing Street will be illuminated with a light show and a new 50p coin will enter circulation.

In Brussels, the UK flag will be removed from the EU institutions, with one Union flag expected to be consigned to a museum.

The Belgian capital has already dressed its famous Mannekin Pis statue of a urinating boy in a John Bull costume, complete with Union flag waistcoat.

In Scotland, which voted to stay in the EU in the 2016 referendum, candlelit vigils are planned.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Brexit left Britain "at a crossroads".

There could be an "internationalist, diverse and outward-looking Britain" or one that will "trade our principles, rights and standards to secure hastily arranged, one-sided, race-to-the-bottom trade deals with Donald Trump and others".