ALMOST 5,000 households in the Forest of Dean have yet to return their Register of electors forms, sent out by the district council in June.

There is a legal requirement to return the form and those who fail to do so will be visited by a council official. The last date to return them in September 6.

Information on the forms provide the basis for the Register of Electors, which enable those eligible to vote to do so.

Geraldine Randall-Wilce, electoral services manager for the council said: Each year we must produce a list of the names and addresses of people eligible to vote in local and parliamentary elections. This is called the Register of Electors. The information being collated at the moment will form the basis for the Police And Crime Commissioner elections to be held on November 15. To be able to vote in this election your name must be included in the register."

She added: "The register of electors is also used by credit reference agencies when people apply for things like mobile phones and credit cards."

A total of 32,000 forms were sent out in June. Residents whose details on the form are correct can also register by telephone, text or on the internet. When registering by telephone or internet, recipients can opt out of the edited version of the register and request postal voting application forms. But if there are changes to the details on the form, such as removing or adding names not correcting spelling, then the paper form should be returned.