AN extra birthday card may soon be on the way to Bolton's new 18-year-olds . . . from town hall chief executive Bernard Knight.

The card would congratulate them on becoming an adult and remind them that they are now old enough to vote.

The proposal is part of a major drive by Bolton Council to improve the recent poor turnout at local elections.

In last year's Bolton Council elections, fewer than one in four of Bolton's population bothered to vote.

Encouraging young people to go to the polling station is seen as vital to improving turnout at elections.

A poster campaign is also planned which would be "in tune with youth culture" and has been designed by the Bolton Young People's Forum.

It will also point out that many credit agencies use the electoral register to assess credit worthiness and if they did not appear on it, they would have difficulty opening a bank account or getting a loan or a mortgage.

A town hall spokesman said: "We will be trying to get the point across that there are a lot of things that are not possible if you are not on the electoral roll.

"Many chain store credit companies check up that people are registered ... if they are not, they are not given credit."

A report setting out the proposals to encourage more people to vote will go to the council's civic affairs sub committee tomorrow.

It also points out that a new postal system to register on the electoral roll was introduced this year because door-to-door canvassing had become more difficult.

People were becoming more and more reluctant to open their doors to strangers.

And more anti-social working hours meant that it was often difficult for canvassers to find people at home.

The report also looks at some of the recommendations of the Government's White Paper on Modernising Local Government including supermarket polling stations.

But the report says: "Caution needs to be exercised in this area in that the secrecy of the ballot is not compromised nor costs allowed to escalate unduly."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.