PENDLE people are spearheading a campaign to boost the number of voters who turn out at the local elections on May 4.

Posters showing local people wearing Use Your Vote T-shirts will be on display in shops, town halls and council offices across the borough reminding voters to have their say on polling day.

Last year only 37.3 per cent of people entitled to vote actually did.

Pendle Council has set itself a target of increasing the turn-out by three per cent, which means 1,800 more voters. The campaign is part of a nationwide drive to cut through voter apathy.

As well as the poster campaign, a large banner will be hung outside Nelson Town Hall to get the message across.

Council chief executive Stephen Barnes said: "Voting is an important way local people can influence key decisions about their area and it makes an impact on how the council runs over 200 services." The move comes after it was revealed more than 900 people, half as many again as last year, have applied for proxy votes to allow someone else to cast their vote for them, and 1,500 people have applied for postal votes for the forthcoming elections.