ROYAL Mail staff are working swiftly to ensure EU referendum postal votes arrive to Warrington on time.

Votes posted yesterday, Wednesday, were collected as normal and taken to a mail centre for 'onward distribution'.

And it is set to be a busy couple of hours until the polling stations close at 10pm tonight.

Royal Mail spokesman Sally Hopkins said: "Each local authority is having a final 'sweep' for any postal votes at the end of today (Thursday).

"The exact timing is determined by getting the maximum number of votes back to the count before close of poll.

"Postal votes picked up in this sweep are then delivered directly to the local authority's designated voting point where the votes are processed."

Warrington Borough Council said it should receive all postal votes by 9.50pm.