Wednesday 17 August 2016 2:34 pm

Brexit campaigners have infuriated Britain’s Olympians, and now they’re being threatened with a lawsuit

The British Olympics Association has issued a legal threat to Brexit campaign group Leave.EU over use of Team GB trademarks.

In a letter to the Brexit campaign founded by Ukip donor Arron Banks, a Team GB lawyer said that Leave.EU had made "extensive" use of its trademarks, including Team GB imagery, in social media posts on Twitter and Facebook.

The lawyer demanded the campaign immediately remove posts featuring trademarked material, and confirm that it would refrain from making any further use of the BOA's intellectual property.

"We look forward to receiving urgent confirmation of the above, and trust that this matter can be resolved swiftly and amicably. In the meantime, we must reserve all of our rights," the letter said.

Responding to the threat, Leave.EU said that it had only sought to celebrate the successes of British athletes in the Rio games.

"We understand they're still pissed that the majority of people do believe in Britain and want us to succeed as an independent country outside of the crumbling EU, but to try and stop us promoting just how great we’re doing reeks of desperation," a spokesman said.

A Team GB spokeswoman said: "In some cases during the Games we have to speak to organisations about the misuse of our athletes and team's IP.

"In this case, given the scale of the use of our intellectual property without our consent, we contacted Leave.EU by email to request them to refrain from doing so. No legal action has been taken."

It comes after Olympic cyclist and double medal winner Callum Skinner yesterday slammed the campaign for using his image.

A fantastic effort so far by @TeamGB! We may be small, but we truly are Great Britain! #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/QuhFiD3i32

— Leave.EU (@LeaveEUOfficial) August 15, 2016