Record-breaking numbers of voters turned out to decide Scotland’s future as independence fever engulfed the country.
Turnout was expected to sit at more than 85% with the referendum capturing people’s imaginations in a way no election ever has.
Hundreds of revellers gathered outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and at Glasgow’s George Square to party as votes were counted.
A final poll by YouGov predicted that 54% of people would vote No, with 46% backing independence, although no exit polls were taken.
Such a result would give pro-UK campaigners a more comfortable victory than recent polls had suggested.
The company contacted 1,828 people after they had cast their ballot, as well as 800 who had voted by post.
Several sources within different parties of Better Together were making very confident noises as early votes were counted. One stated unequivocally: “We are going to win.”
As he made his way into a local polling station, First Minister Alex Salmond said: “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s a day that everybody will remember.”
Better Together leader Alistair Darling was greeted by cheers and boos as he arrived at the Church Hill Theatre in Edinburgh to cast his vote.
He said: “It’s been a long, hard two-and-a-half-year campaign, passions have been aroused on both sides, and understandably so because we are talking about the biggest single decision that any of us will ever take in our lifetime.”
Meanwhile, the Church of Scotland’s most senior cleric yesterday urged unionist and independence campaigners to join forces to build harmony in the wake of the vote.
The Rt Rev John Chalmers, the Moderator of the General Assembly, said: “Get ready to accept the will of the Scottish people and that will be best done by setting passions aside.”
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