MANCHESTER: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a 3.6 billion pound ($4.5 billion) fund will help towns to invest in areas such as transport and broadband, part of a push to address frustrations among voters that led to the Brexit vote.

"I recognise that when the British people voted to leave the European Union, they were not just voting against Brussels, they were voting against London too and against all concentrations of power in remote centres," Johnson said in a speech on Saturday.