And key figures from across Dumbarton and the Vale are urging those eligible to vote to make sure their voice is heard.

Provost Douglas McAllister said: “Do not wake up on Friday 19 September 2014 with any regrets thinking what an absolute disaster the outcome of the referendum was, and that this was not the road in which you wished your country to go down.

“The only way to prevent that happening is to actually cast your vote on Thursday.” More than 4.29 million of Scotland’s adults are now registered to vote in this week’s independence referendum, with 3,500 registering to vote in the area last month. Nationally, 97 per cent of the eligible electorate are now registered to vote.

Dumbarton actor, David Hayman, reinforced the importance of the vote and called it the biggest vote of our lifetime.

He told the Reporter: “Whether we believe in voting Yes or No, it’s vital for every single one of us who is legitimately able to do it, to put a cross on a bit of paper. It’s absolutely vital.

“We have had a democratic imbalance for general elections and are usually outnumbered 10/1 for votes in Westminster elections, so it’s fantastic that we have an opportunity to have a real, balanced and proportionate input on an issue in Scotland.

“Every single cross on every piece of paper will be to do with Scotland and we are expecting a massive turnout.” The registered total of 4,285,323 voters means this is the largest electorate the country has ever known for any election or referendum. That figure includes 789,024 postal voters and marks an increase of over 300,000 since the last Westminster election in 2012.

It also includes 16 and 17-year-olds who have had the vote extended to them for the first time.

David added: “I think it’s a very exciting time for everyone able to vote, but it must be extra exciting for those engaging with politics for the first time. And it’s great to see such engagement and involvement from them.

“It’s their future afterall, so it’s very important that they get out there and vote for the first time and make sure they are getting involved.

“Whatever way they are going to vote, they must make their democratic voice heard. This isn’t party politics – it isn’t about Alex Salmond or the SNP, and it isn’t about Alistair Darling and Labour. This is purely about the future of Scotland and it must be incredibly exciting to be involved in politics for the first time for that.

“This could be the most important vote in their lives, more important than any parliamentary vote in a General Election or Scottish Parliamentary election. So it’s important they have a voice.

“They don’t have to fire any bullets or drop any bombs to be heard – it’s as simple as putting pen to paper.” Whether the people will vote in favour of political independence for the country, or whether they will opt to stay part of the Union, is delicately poised.

There are those who know how they are going to vote and those who don’t. There are those who will vote one way, and their partner another, effectively cancelling each other out.

But it is our democratic duty to make sure our voice is heard and should take nothing for granted in perceiving how the vote will go.

And with the biggest decision Scotland will ever take balanced on a knife-edge, it is paramount people have their say and understand it is not – as David said – party politics that is being debated.

Provost McAllister told the Reporter: “No matter which side of the debate you lean towards, it is incredibly vital you exercise your right to vote.  “There has been a problem with voter apathy during recent elections and no more so than in local government elections, and perhaps, the blame for this rests with people like me, your politicians.

“Many take the view we are all as bad as each other, but this is not about individual parties or individual politicians, this is about the future of our country and the decision we take on Thursday will affect the fortunes of generations to come.  “It is therefore incredibly important each and every one of us in West Dunbartonshire takes part in this process and uses their vote.”