A RECORD number of people in Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire have registered to vote in Scottish elections.

Latest figures from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) show that, across these two areas, almost 12,000 more voters were registered last year compared to 2008.

The biggest increase is in Renfrewshire, where 6,000 more people have been added to the local government and Scottish Parliament electoral register.

Between 2008 and 2016, that number leapt from 123,278 to 129, 906.

And in East Renfrewshire over the same period, the total jumped from 65,612 to 70,549.

The number of voters registered for UK Parliament elections has also increased in most constituencies in Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire.

Paisley and Renfrewshire North saw an increase from 64,278 voters to 66,011 between 2006 and 2016.

And the same 10-year period saw figures in East Renfrewshire rise from 66,516 to 68,978.

However, there was a slight dip in Paisley and Renfrewshire South, where the total fell from 61,454 to 60,320.

NRS is a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government which “collects, preserves and produces information about Scotland’s people and history and makes it available to inform current and future generations.”

A spokesman for NRS said the introduction of a lower voting age of 16 and above for local government and Scottish Parliament elections in 2015 contributed to the increase in electorate numbers.

He added: “Due to the timing of this change in legislation and the timing of the canvass, this had only a limited effect on the electorate in 2015.

“However, as expected, the number of 16- and 17-year-old electors has increased by 62.6 per cent in 2016.”

The spokesman also said an increase in electorate numbers last year could be attributed to both the most recent Scottish Parliament elections and the EU Referendum.