Falkland refrendum: Islanders massively support staying British territory

British prime minister David Cameron today urged Argentina to respect the wishes of the Falkland Islanders after results of a referendum disclosed that they had voted  overwhelmingly to remain a British territory.

Around 92 per cent of the 1,672 eligible voters turned out to deliver a 99.8 per cent "yes" vote in favour of staying an internally self-governing British territory, the official results showed.

The number of votes against the islands remaining British numbered three out of 1,517 valid ballots.

The vote had been earlier dismissed as meaningless by Argentina, saying it would not affect the country's claims on the South Atlantic archipelago which sparked a brief but bloody war with UK in 1982.

The vote had been organised by islanders as Argentine president Cristina Kirchner had voiced increasingly vocal demands for sovereignty.

There was much jubilation in Stanley, the capital of the Falklands, last night with the announcement of the result and Cameron said he was personally "delighted" by the outcome.