Moray’s political leaders will host a public meeting next week to try and convince locals of the benefits of remaining in the European Union.
SNP MP Angus Robertson and MSP Richard Lochhead hope to win over voters who are still undecided on the upcoming EU referendum.
The gathering has been arranged at Elgin High School’s lecture room on Tuesday at 7pm, little more than 24 hours before residents take to the polls on Thursday morning.
The move comes after a nationalist insider suggested Moray was poised to back a Brexit vote, despite being a traditional SNP heartland.
Paul Briggs has temporarily resigned from his post as political education officer in the party’s Moray branch to campaign for the Vote Leave movement.
He believes Moray is a “really big anti-EU area” and that there is a “strong possibility” the region is poised to vote in favour of Leave.
Mr Briggs claimed that severing ties with Brussels could boost Scottish industry over the next decade.
Moray MP Mr Robertson responded yesterday he will stress the positives that being a member of the EU would continue to bring the UK should voters elect to remain a part of it.
He added: “In speeches and campaigning, I have been setting out the positive case for remaining a part of the European Union.
“Tuesday’s meeting is a further opportunity for folk who may be undecided to come along and hear the case for staying in the EU.
“From the fundamental human rights on employment rights that we enjoy and which are protected by European legislation, to the huge importance of the European market to Moray’s major exporting employers, there are enormous benefits from our EU membership.”
Mr Lochhead said: “We are setting out a positive case, highlighting the mutual benefits that provide us with access to free healthcare when we go on holiday in other European countries, human rights legislation, food safety and environmental protection.”