PEOPLE across Oxfordshire are being urged to register to vote in the snap General Election before the final deadline tonight.

Today is the last opportunity to register before the cut-off point at midnight and the process takes just a few minutes.

It comes as the most recent figures provided by local authorities showed 479,558 people were registered across Oxfordshire as of Friday, down slightly from the 2015 General Election.

Martin John, an electoral boss at Oxford City Council, said: "Today is the last day anyone not already registered can sign up to vote in the general election.

"It’s very easy to do and only takes five minutes.

"You can do it on your PC, laptop, or phone and you will not miss out on the opportunity to have your say on June 8."

The leaders of the UK's biggest political parties have also called on people to make sure they have their say next month, calling it the most important elections in a generation.

Key issues they have clashed over include Britain's strategy in upcoming Brexit talks with the European Union and funding for the under-pressure schools and the NHS.

The Oxford Mail has been campaigning for people in the county to register to vote, with thousands signing up since the election was called last month.

First-time voter Guillaume Flavin said he would be taking part in the poll because it was going to 'determine the country's future'.

The 18-year-old, who lives in North Hinksey, added: "There's no turning back from Brexit and so this is probably the most important election for a generation, particularly for younger people.

"There are different cards being put on the table but leaving the European Union is going to affect us all for the rest of our lives.

"And the type of deal we get will depend on who is the leader of our country – so it's vital that people go out and vote.

"The decision about who will be the main opposition is also just as important – because they are going to have to hold the Government to account."

War veteran Terry Roper, who is chairman of the Oxford branch of the Royal Green Jackets Association, encouraged everyone to vote, adding it was important to remember people's 'sacrifices' in the First and Second World Wars.

He said: "People made sacrifices so that we can vote and carry on with our lives.

"They laid down their lives and had they not we might all be voting for Angela Merkel now."

Mr Roper said 'if anything good came out of the First World War' it was the vote for women.

There are six constituencies in Oxfordshire: Banbury; Henley; Oxford East; Oxford West and Abingdon; Wantage; and Witney.

Figures from the Electoral Commission show there were 482,216 people registered to vote across all of them in May 2015, when the last General Election took place.

But the total number registered as of Friday was 479,558, according to councils in Oxfordshire.

Officials said they expected the final number to be higher after the deadline as people rushed to sign up at the last minute, but they urged people to register as soon as possible.

The Electoral Reform Society has also warned that fewer school leavers are registering to vote than in previous years.

It said the biggest drop was in black and ethnic minority groups and blamed it on changes introduced in 2014.

These meant everyone had to sign up individually, whereas previously one person in a household could sign up everyone else who lived there.

A spokesman for the society said: "With just a few days to go to register in time for the General Election, it’s vital that the new generation of potential voters – people who may have fallen off the electoral roll since the registration system was changed – sign up before it’s too late."