A FLORIST from Witney has been selected as one of the firms to be at the centre of a campaign to persuade other small business owners to vote to remain in the European Union.

Rosa Ashby of Flowers By Rosa is one of a group of selected small businesses from around the UK to be featured by the EU Small Business campaign across a range of social media channels in the final days before Thursday's referendum.

She said: "We have worked very hard for 19 years to build up our florist business. We get all our flowers from Holland a few times a week. They are reliable and good quality. Our concern is the price will go up, with possible tariffs put on if we come out of the EU.

"It is very important to remain. The extra costs would be very difficult to absorb and we would lose customers. It would be very hard for many small businesses. We must stay in the EU."

Rosa's position has received support from the Secretary of State for Business, Sajid Javid, who added: "A quarter of our small businesses export to the EU or supply companies that do.

"They and the companies they supply can trade freely without tariffs, quotas or custom checks with the world's largest single market.

"There is wide consensus that withdrawing from the EU and it's single market would cause an economic shock in the UK.

"Our small firms would be on the front line of that shock. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. Let's not risk breaking that backbone with a leap into the dark."