Gap narrows as Independence referendum approaches

People in Scotland will go to the polls on 18 September to vote on whether or not they want Scotland to become an independent country.

Registered voters have from 7am when the polling stations open until 10pm when they close to cast their ballot.

The votes will be counted in 32 local authorities immediately after the polls close.

When the total votes in all 32 have been confirmed and verified, the chief counting officer for the referendum will declare the national result.

Chief counting officer Mary Pitcaithly previously said that the result of the historic vote will not necessarily be announced overnight, declaring, "Getting the result right is more important than getting it quickly."

As decision day for Scotland fast approaches, another opinion poll appears to confirm the gap between pro-independence and anti is narrowing fast.

The YouGov poll in tomorrow's Sun newspaper suggests a 22% gap of less than a month ago has closed to six.

Among those who have decided which way they are going to vote, 53% are against independence, with 47% for it.

ITV News Correspondent Martin Geissler reports.

More: Salmond urges 'missing million' to register to vote

The Scottish Independence 'no vote' has collapsed to just a six point lead compared to a 22 point lead less than a month ago, a new poll has found.

Now 53% of those questioned would vote 'No' compared to 47% for the 'Yes' camp, with 'Don't know' responses stripped from the YouGov/The Sun poll.

With opinions hardening, some 85% say they are certain to vote, which is up from 82% on August 15.

SNP leader Alex Salmond has urged the "missing million" unregistered voters to make sure they can have their say in the upcoming independence referendum.

Scots have until midnight tonight to register for the referendum, which will see 16 and 17-year-olds allowed to vote for the first time in a major poll.

The First Minister said: "If you have friends or family who want to vote and are not registered, they have just hours to do so - this is their last chance to seize the wealth of opportunity offered by Scotland's historic referendum."

Read: Independence will put 'a million Scottish jobs at risk'

Independence will put a million Scottish jobs at risk, according to the Better Together campaign.

Launching a new poster campaign tomorrow, campaign chairman Alistair Darling is expected to say: "A million Scottish jobs rely on trade within the UK. "That is a million opportunities for families in Scotland because we are in the UK and I want to create more opportunities.

"One million jobs rely on our links with the UK. I want a million more - not to put the million we currently have at risk."

Alex Salmond has rejected calls for Scottish ministers to withdraw their their threat to renege on UK debt if they cannot secure a currency union.

In response to a letter from Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander to the Scottish Government urging its ministers to roll back on its "bogus" debt threat, the Scottish First minister said, "the contractual legal liability lies with the UK Government."

He told BBC Sunday Politics Scotland: "Clearly, if Danny Alexander wants to take all of the assets then he gets stuck with all of the liabilities, which is why our reasonable position is much better."

He added: "We're putting forward an argument that we should share assets and liabilities, which is a wholly responsible position."

Over 40% of people across Britain do not believe there should be currency union if Scotland becomes a independent, according to a new poll.

Asked the question: "If Scotland votes for independence should there be a currency union?" 44% replied with "no," the Springboard UK poll for the Sunday Express found.

A total of 22% welcomed sharing the pound while the remainder said they were not sure.

The poll of 2,008 people was carried out on August 28 was carried out in England, Wales and Scotland.

Of those polled in Scotland however, 60% said they were in support of a currency union, while 21% were opposed and 19% did not know.

Tennis star Andy Murray has reportedly said he will play for Scotland if the country votes for independence next month.

Britain’s first Wimbledon champion in 77 years said: "If Scotland became independent, then I imagine I would be playing for Scotland."

Speaking after his defeat of Matthias Bachinger at the US Open, he added that he had watched some of the second debate between Scottish first minister Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling, who leads the Better Together opposition.

But he did not think that his countrymen would vote for independence, according to The Times (£).

He said: "I haven't thought that much about that yet because I don't think it's looking too likely that it's going to happen."

He added: "If it did happen, then it would be pretty much the first time in my life that I would have ever not been Great Britain - that has been normal to me.”

A man has been arrested in Scotland after votes in the Scottish independence referendum were listed on the auction website eBay.

A spokesman for Police Scotland said:

eBay told STV News that it has a policy of removing "any items posted on eBay that relate to an individual’s vote where the Commission has concerns that this could lead to the law being broken".

• Scottish referendum votes put up for sale on eBay