RESIDENTS in Wolverley and Cookley are being reminded the deadline to register to take part in a referendum on the future of the parish is fast approaching.

A local advisory poll asking ‘Should the villages of Wolverley and Cookley each have their own parish council?’ will be held on Thursday, July 12.

And people wishing to cast their vote have until midnight on Tuesday, June 26 to ensure they are on the electoral register.

Residents who were registered for this May’s elections, and who have not had a change in their circumstances, do not need to register again for the local advisory poll and they will receive a poll card.

But people who have moved home since May or have turned 18 will need to register and can do so at www.gov.uk/registertovote.

Voting will take place between 8am and 8pm. The polling stations will be at Cookley Village Hall in Lea Lane, and Wolverley Memorial Hall in Shatterford Lane, as has been the case for elections for a number of years.

Deadline for postal voting applications is 5pm on Wednesday, June 27 while anyone wishing to vote by proxy need to apply by 5pm on Wednesday, July 4.

The poll is taking place after Wolverley and Cookley Parish Council presented a petition to the district council requesting that the parish be dissolved and two new parishes be created.

People can make comments as part of the view either through the website www.wyreforestdc.gov.uk/wolverleyandcookleypoll or sent to Elections Manager, Wyre Forest District Council, Finepont Way, Kidderminster, DY11 7WF.