PROSECUTION and fines could be handed out to North Ayrshire residents if households do not return their census details.

To date 84.2 per cent of residents in the area have returned theirs.

Of Scotland’s 32 Local Authorities, 25 now have a census return rate of over 85 per cent, National Records of Scotland (NRS) confirmed today.

Across Scotland, 2,238,784 households have now returned their census, representing a current national return rate of 85.7 per cent.

Census returns must be submitted by the end of May and failure to do so could result in prosecution and a fine of up to £1000.

Paul Lowe, Chief Executive, NRS said: “It’s very encouraging to see that more than 85 per cent of Scotland’s households have now completed their census and that we have achieved an 85 per cent completion rate in more than three quarters of our local authority areas.

"However, every single return counts if the census is to be effective in delivering its many benefits for future public services.

“If you haven’t yet completed your census, please join the thousands of people that are filling it in every day and do so before the end of May, to avoid the risk of prosecution.”

Help is available online at census.gov.scot, or by calling the free helpline on 0800 030 8308 if you have specific questions or need a paper questionnaire.

Field teams have undertaken more than 1.5 million visits to households, and are carrying out community events across Scotland to support census completion.

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