THE day has finally arrived - an historic in/out referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.

Voters across Worcestershire are expected to pack into the polls in a way not seen for a generation, with hopes turnout will crack 80 per cent.

And the key message from the likes of Worcester MP Robin Walker, himself a Remain backer, is to get out and make that vote count regardless of where you stand.

Polling stations across the county are open from 7am today and will remain that way until 10pm.

Survey after survey, from respected polling firms across the nation, has had both sides neck-and-neck - meaning your vote will make a difference one way or the other.

Mr Walker said: "The key thing is to vote, whatever you think and whichever side you support - that's my key message.

"Wherever you are coming at this from, get out and vote because otherwise you'll end up kicking yourself.

"There are jobs riding on this and livelihoods - it could not be more important."

A breathless final day of campaigning yesterday saw both sides make last-ditch pitches to the nation, with Prime Minister David Cameron joining rivals on a national Battlebus tour to promise a "bigger, better Britain" if voters back Remain.

But the PM said he if the result did not go his way, he wanted to stay in Downing Street and start work tomorrow on negotiating an exit.

"I will accept the instructions of the British people and get to work on Friday morning to deliver them," he said.

Boris Johnson, the spearhead for Leave, also flew across Britain to visit several major cities, declaring today as "Independence Day" for the nation.

"I do think that we are on the verge, possibly, of an extraordinary event in the history of our country and indeed the whole of Europe," he said.

The results will collected at polling stations across Worcestershire after 10pm tonight and fed into a regional centre in Birmingham, one of 12 nationwide.

All 12 results will then be added together, with the referendum outcome due to be declared from Manchester Town Hall in the early hours of tomorrow morning some time after 4am.

Across the UK nearly 44.5 million people are registered to vote in today's referendum, which marks the first time the country has had a say on its relationship with Europe since 1975.

* Confused about today? Don't fear - HERE'S your Worcester News Dummies Guide to the EU

* See our special EU referendum section of our website HERE

* See our FOUR-PAGE special EU coverage inside today's centre sections of the newspaper