RESIDENTS are being reminded to return their electoral registration forms - otherwise they could miss out on the right to vote in elections.

Some 41,508 forms were sent out to homes in Hartlepool last month, but so far only about a half have been returned .

People can register by post, freephone, internet and, for the first time this year, by text.

However, if there are any changes to the information on the form, people can respond by post only.

Lorraine Bennison, Hartlepool Council’s principal registration and members’ services officer, said: “While we are grateful to those people who have returned their forms, we have had to send out a significant number of reminders.

“It is so simple to register, but if you don’t, you won’t be able to vote, and if you don’t have a vote you can’t have your say.

“If anyone fails to respond to the reminder, they’ll be a necessity to send someone out to visit their homes and this only adds costs to the process.”

People can also register by phone in Polish, Bengali, Urdu, Hindi, Kurdish, Cantonese or Arabic.

For general advice and information about electoral registration, call the council’s election office on 01429-523088.