'Leave' supporters march through London

Thousands of people opposed to Britain delaying its departure from the European Union marched through central London on March 29 as lawmakers in parliament strongly rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal for a third time.

On the day that Britain was originally meant to be leaving the EU, large groups gathered in bright sunshine outside parliament waving Union Jack flags and chanting, "Out means out" - as the Queen song Bohemian Rhapsody was played on a loudspeaker with its famous lyric "Mamma Mia, let me go.”

The protest, a week after hundreds of thousands marched through calling for a second referendum, shows how divided Britain is over Europe three years after voting to leave the EU.

As the result of the vote in parliament filtered through to the crowds on Parliament Square, scattered cheers went up as some protesters viewed it as boosting the chance of a rapid departure from the bloc.

Nigel Farage - the politician widely thought to have done the most to spook Britain's then government into agreeing to hold the referendum - addressed the crowd at the end of a 270-mile (435 km), two-week march from Sunderland, northeast England, to London.

"What should have been a celebration is in fact a day of betrayal," Farage told Reuters.