Half a million people registered to vote on the last day before the deadline for the election, setting a new record

The sign-ups are a new record for the online voting system

Nearly half a million people registered to vote on the last day before the deadline to take part in the general election, setting a new record.

Young people led the charge on the record-breaking Monday which saw 485,000 people register, beating the previous biggest day by over 300,000 people.

Electoral Commission figures reveal that of the people who registered 137,000 were aged under 24, while 289,000 were aged under 34.

More than 7.1m people have registered to vote using the online system since it was introduced in Jun 2014.

As the deadline approached in recent weeks the Electoral Commission teamed up with Twitter and Facebook to remind their users that they should register to vote.

The social networks posted reminders to all their UK users to register.

Facebook's notification came on National Voter Registration Day, 5 February this year - when the previous record was set and a spike can be seen on the chart.

Their efforts coincided with large spikes in voter registration, especially amongst younger demographics more likely to use the services.

96.7% of recent applications were made online, suggesting take-up of the system has been enthusiastic.

The record-breaking day comes after another big surge on the penultimate day of sign-ups which saw 124,000 people register – now the third highest day for the new system after this Monday and 5 February.

The deadline for applications to register by the general election has now closed and anyone who is not registered will not be able to vote.