LONDON, Sha'ban 24, 1437, May 31, 2016, SPA -- The British pound fell sharply Tuesday after two opinion polls for The Guardian newspaper indicated support for a British exit from the 28-country European Union in next month's referendum, according to AP. In both polls, one of which was conducted by phone and the other online, the "leave" campaign was up 52 points to 48. Both polls were conducted by polling organization ICM. The online poll was unchanged from the previous one in mid-May but the phone poll showed a hefty rise in support for a British exit. Last time, "remain" held a 10-point lead. The polls jolted the markets, which have recently downplayed the possibility of a vote for so-called Brexit in the June 23 vote. Within minutes of the release of the latest poll results, the pound, which is also known as sterling, was down a cent at $1.4550 while the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares ended the session 0.6 percent lower. --SPA 22:47 LOCAL TIME 19:47 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w