THE Ministry of Defence is to launch a major drive to inform Scottish military personnel about how they can vote in next year's independence referendum after concerns were raised that thousands could miss out on helping to determine Scotland's future.

Ian Davidson, Labour Chairman of the Commons Scottish Affairs Committee, has expressed alarm Whitehall does not appear to be on top of the issue.

At a session earlier this week, the committee chairman said the MoD's apparent lack of understanding on the issue caused him "a bit of alarm", noting: "Simply having people registered to vote is not sufficient for the purposes we have identified." He called for a progress report from the MoD.

Later, a Whitehall source, asked by The Herald if the Ministry was about to launch a campaign to inform Scottish personnel of their ability to vote in next September's poll, said: "Yes, we are. We are about to in the next few days, specifically for the Scottish referendum."

He added: "We are intending to issue instructions very much on the lines that the chairman implied but obviously it's a personal decision. We will make them aware of what their rights are in this."

The Herald has been told that a programme of information, part of which will be in association with the Electoral Commission, will run through to September.

A Commission spokeswoman added: "Our intention is to do some further work on this through to next summer, such as identifying which regiments have high proportions of Scots and where they are based."

Mr Davidson warned: "What we don't want is that, after the referendum, members of our armed forces say we were not told we could have voted because we did not have it properly explained to us."

He also attacked the Scottish Government, saying: "We are anxious and believe it is deliberately trying to minimise the take-up of votes by service personnel and their families because it believes they will vote against separation."

But a Scottish Government spokeswoman hit back, saying: "These claims are completely wrong and have no basis in fact.

"A Bill, passed by the Scottish Parliament today, will ensure the vote will be run to the highest international standards."