WORCESTERSHIRE'S MPs have backed the historic vote towards quitting the EU in a thumping victory for Theresa May's Brexit Bill.

All six county parliamentarians helped the Government crush two House of Lords' amendments to the Bill during an impassioned debate last night.

It now leaves Mrs May poised to fire the starting gun on Britain's EU exit in just two weeks by triggering Article 50 - with the UK out of the bloc by March 2019.

Last night MPs rejected a Lords amendment to guarantee the status of EU nationals resident in the UK 'within three months' of triggering Article 50 by 335 votes to 287, before overturning a second amendment requiring a 'meaningful' vote on Brexit by 331 votes to 286.

There are 3.2 million EU nationals in Britain but 900,000 Brits in EU states, with the Government intent on securing a reciprocal deal.

All of Worcestershire's MPs - five of whom are ministers - helped ensure the Bill passed through parliament unchanged.

Worcester MP Robin Walker, a Brexit minister said: "It was a good day for the Bill and great to get that support - we actually increased our majority on both amendments.

"There will be lots of wild speculation on when Article 50 will be triggered, we've always said 'by the end of March' and I have no reason to think it will be significantly earlier.

"But the key thing is, the Supreme Court requires us to legislate on it, now it's been done and has passed through both Houses.

"It's going to come down the tracks pretty quickly (the start of the negotiations), we just need to get on with it."

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Mid-Worcestershire MP Nigel Huddleston added: "I supported both rejections of the Lords' amendments - with the first one yes, absolutely 100 per cent we do need to protect the rights of EU citizens here, they are in my constituency, they are friends.

“But we can't do it until we've secured the rights of British citizens in the EU, ministers and the Prime Minister have been clear on that.

"I've been lobbied by our citizens in countries like Spain saying 'don't even think of giving them rights before you've secured ours'.

"I am sure this will happen within weeks anyway, I think there's enough goodwill within EU countries to be confident we can do this quickly, I'm very comfortable with that.

"It's just as David Davis (the Brexit Secretary) said 'this is about securing rights for the four million'.

"And on the 'meaningful vote', we are having meaningful Brexit debates every single day anyway.

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"If we give the impression that somehow we can go back on Brexit and not go ahead with it, it weakens our negotiating position.

"Some of my colleagues have been grasping at straws, frankly, and doing it because they want to stop the process, not all of them, but some."

West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin, Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier and Bromsgrove's Sajid Javid also backed the Bill remaining unchanged, as did Redditch's Karen Lumley.

Mrs Baldwin told the Worcester News: "The country and now parliament has voted to leave the European Union by triggering article 50.

"Nobody should believe that the negotiation process will be brief or straightforward.

“However, I am confident Theresa May will provide the strong leadership we need to form a new partnership with the European Union.

"She has made it clear that she wants to secure rights for EU nationals in the UK and UK nationals in the EU, as early as she can, and parliament will have many opportunities to debate and vote on these issues during the months to come."

Mr Davis has said he feels a ‘moral responsibility’ to the 4.1 million people who are either EU nationals in Britain or Brits on the continent, and insists he wants a swift agreement on their status as soon as Article 50 is triggered.

The Lords decided not to contest the MPs’ decisions last night meaning Mrs May only needs royal assent – permission from the Queen – before triggering Article 50, starting those formal Brexit negotiations.