Britain should only trigger Article 50 to leave the EU when it has a "clear view" of how its future in the bloc looks, finance minister George Osborne said today following last week's shock referendum.

The surprise decision to leave the EU sparked the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron, who had backed the unsuccessful Remain campaign -- but has left the activation of Article 50, which triggers the departure, to his successor.

"The prime minister has given us time as a country to decide what that relationship should be by delaying the decision to trigger the Article 50 procedure until there is a new prime minister in place for the autumn," Osborne said in his first public comments since the result.

The remarks, given at a Treasury press conference in central London, were timed to calm investor jitters ahead of the opening of European stock markets at 0700 GMT.