May rules out points-based immigration policy, saying there is 'no silver bullet' to tackling issue

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Points-based immigration policies, championed by pro-Brexit campaigners, "simply don't work" and will not be used when Britain leaves the EU, Theresa May has said - arguing there was "no single silver bullet" in tackling immigration.

She also refused to rule out that Britain might have to continue contributing funds to EU funds even after leaving the union - in direct contradiction to other claims made by pro-leave campaigners.

ITV News Political Editor Robert Peston explains:

A policy similar to the one used by Australia was among the key pledges made by Vote Leave campaigners such as Boris Johnson ahead of the referendum on June 23 - but the new Prime Minister, appointed after the vote, dismissed the idea saying there were questions about whether such systems ever worked.

However, she did promise that free movement of European Union citizens would not continue in the same vein as in the past.

Speaking to reporters during her visit to the G20 summit in China, Mrs May said:

"What I say is the voice of the British people was very clear. They wanted control in the issue of the movement of people coming in from the European Union," she added.

"They didn't want free movement to continue as it has done in the past. We will be going out there to deliver on that.

"You have to look across the board, you have to look at the whole range of issues, not just how you bring control through the rules we have for people coming in, but also making sure you are rooting out abuse in the system and obviously dealing with people if they are discovered here illegally."

Asked if she would rule out contributing funds to the EU, she said she was determined to get the "best possible deal".

"I'm optimistic about that, I think we should be ambitious about that, and that's what I am," she said.

"But I'm not going to give away my negotiating hand. I want to actually, let's do that work, let's be ambitious about what we can achieve and let's go out there and work for it."