The leader of Maidstone council has encouraged Scots to vote no to independence when they head to the polls.

Cllr Annabelle Blackmore, the Conservative leader, is one of the many people who hopes Scotland will remain as part of the UK after today's referendum.

She said: “I’m very strongly in favour of Scotland staying in the union.

“I can understand why they want to be independent, but they should look at the experience of other small countries.

“They all want to be part of the European Union. They want to be part of a greater mass.”

She suggested there could be unexpected trading problems between England and Scotland if they broke away."

She said: “There’s all the uncertainty about whether they would continue to have a currency union with us.”

The latest polls suggest the no vote stands at 52%, compared to 48% in favour of independence.

But polling companies ICM and Survation say the results include a margin of error almost identical to the no vote’s four-point lead, meaning the result could be on a knife edge.

The turnout is expected to be high with 4285,323 people registered to vote.