VOTERS in the UK are among the least likely to take part in the ballot for the Euro elections, according to a survey.

The results of the poll - only four nations out of 25 have a predicted lower turn-out than the UK - have prompted a wake-up call to the electorate.

Pat Cox, president of the European Parliament, and the European Movement, a non-political grouping formed by Winston Churchill in 1948 to promote an interest in Europe, last night called for people to vote.

James Bourn, a former British ambassador to Somalia who lives in Darlington and is a member of the Movement's Teesside branch, said: "I believe apathy is a bad thing. Everybody has an opinion and a democratic right, so we should use them."

Mr Cox said: "This election will throw up 732 people whose collective ability to influence EU law-making will be the equivalent, in many areas of policy-making, to the sum of that of all 25 member states. That is powerful influence.

"This poll is a wake-up call and an invitation to people to take some time and focus on the election. Their vote counts and their representative can make a difference."

Only 32 per cent of voters in the UK said they were certain to vote, compared to 76 per cent in Belgium and 73 per cent in Luxembourg. The countries with a lower expected turn-out than the UK are Sweden (31 per cent), Slovakia (27 per cent), Estonia (26 per cent) and the Czech Republic (20 per cent).