Referendum LIVE: Polls close in 'brisk and busy' EU referendum

POLLING stations across the country have been 'brisk and busy', an official from the Electoral Commission has said with counting set to begin with polls closed across the country.

By The Newsroom Thursday, 23rd June 2016, 10:06 pm Updated Thursday, 25th August 2016, 9:00 pm

A voter enters a polling station

The result of the EU referendum is due to be announced later than initial 7am predictions with a source saying that it could be after “breakfast time” on Friday.

“In the Scotland for the referendum all but one of the counting officers was overly optimistic on how quickly they could declare. Their final result was at 8.30am,” he said.

Sign up to our daily newsletter The i newsletter cut through the noise Sign up Thanks for signing up! Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting...

Once the polls close at 10pm this evening ballot boxes will be transported to the country’s 382 local count centres were they will be verified first, and then split between Leave and Remain.

Count centres include 380 in England, Scotland and Wales, one in Northern Ireland and one in Gibraltar.

Results will then be sent to regional count centres and then fed in finally to the national centre in Manchester.

The only provision for a recount is if there is an issue with the process of counting at a local centre and not just if the result is very close.

An official said there had been “no issue at all” with people using pen or pencil to mark their ballot paper, before joking he “wished to draw a line under it”.

A voter enters a polling station

Media reports from earlier today said voters had been panicking that their ballot papers could be altered if they had written in pencil had allegedly led to a binge buy of pens.