Reading neighbours are being urged to check they are ready to vote ahead of the general election coming up soon.

Council figures show 115 people in Reading didn’t vote in the borough council elections in May as they did not have acceptable Voter ID.

There are now only a few days to register to vote for the election, which takes place next month.

Figures on the impact of the Voter ID requirement in May’s Local and Police and Crime Commissioner elections showed 316 voters were turned away inside polling stations and not issued with a ballot paper after not having a form of identification deemed acceptable under the rules.

Of those initially turned away, 201 people returned with suitable ID and were issued with a ballot paper and able to vote. However, 115 residents did not return and, as a result, did not cast a vote.

The Government’s Voter ID requirement will again be in place for the general election on Thursday, July 4.

Accepted forms of ID include a passport; a drivers’ licence; some concessionary travel passes, such as an older person’s bus pass or an Oyster 60+ card; and the new free Voter Authority Certificate, for those who applied for one.

Voters will be able to use expired ID, as long as they are still recognisable from the photo.

A full list of the ID which can be found on the Electoral Commission website.

Michael Graham, acting returning officer for Reading Borough Council said: “With the General Election now around the corner, we are urging everyone who intends to vote at a polling station on July 4 to remember to bring their ID.

“Remember, election staff have no option but to turn away residents who do not have an acceptable form of photo ID with them, and where that is the case we of course will ask them to return with the right ID but we know some residents don’t always do that.”

The deadline for registering to vote in the General Election is 11.59pm on Tuesday 18 June and residents can do that online at https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote .

The alternative to voting in person at a polling station, and having to show Voter ID, is to vote by post, or to appoint someone you trust to vote on your behalf, known as a proxy vote. The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on 19 June. The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is one week later, 5pm on 26 June.

To apply please go to: https://www.gov.uk/apply-postal-vote or https://www,gov.uk/apply-proxy-vote

If you are voting in person, you can find your polling station using this website: https://wheredoivote.co.uk/

This election will be the first in years to be contested on new constituency boundaries as well.

The Reading Central constituency covers most of the borough.

Those in Kentwood, Norcot and Tilehurst wards are in the Reading West and Mid Berkshire constituency, and those in Church and Whitley wards have been placed in the Earley and Woodley constituency.