THE leader of Worcester City Council has admitted his concern about significant falls in voter registration numbers - saying people have "died" for democracy.

Councillor Adrian Gregson has urged more householders to ensure they are on the electoral roll.

It follows an in-house investigation which revealed how almost 5,000 Worcester voters dropped off the register after they were asked to sign up individually.

As the Worcester News revealed two weeks ago, the number of city electors plunged 6.3 per cent at the last General Election and is still 1,556 voters down on where it stood in 2013.

The fall followed a national Government shake-up to try and eradicate fraud by asking people to register individually, rather than allow one householder to do it for everyone.

The system, known as Individual Electoral Registration (IER), led to significant falls in the number of eligible voters in areas like St Clement, Cathedral, Warndon and Arboretum.

The number of people on Worcester's roll stands at around 77,085 - still 2.3 per cent down on four years ago, before the current changes came into force.

Councillor Gregson said: "The number of voter registrations do appear to have improved, largely because of the work of our excellent election staff.

"But the concern is, the actual numbers in terms of those not registering are still too high.

"It's something people ought to consider very carefully - within living memory, in this country people have died for the vote.

"We all need to remember that."

Councillor Lynn Denham, a fellow Labour cabinet member responsible for sustainable communities, has also voiced concern.

It comes at a time when elections are taking place this May at Worcestershire County Council, with 57 seats up for grabs including 10 in Worcester.

"Individual Electoral Registration does mean that fewer people have registered to vote, despite the herculean efforts of our election officers," she said.

"You don't get a democratic vote if you are not on the register.

"There is still a chance, still an opportunity for people to register to vote in the county council elections, the last date is the 18th of April."

The slight improvement in voter registration numbers last year were put down to the EU referendum.