THE people of Hampshire are backing a Brexit, an exclusive Daily Echo poll has found.

This newspaper asked 1,000 residents how they would be voting in the European Union referendum next month and nearly two-thirds of those whose mind was made up said they would be opting to leave.

However our poll also found that a quarter of people had not yet decided which way they were going to vote.

The survey was taken in a week when big hitters from the both the Remain and Leave camps targeted Hampshire.

Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne put the case for staying in the EU at B&Q's Chandler's Ford headquarters on Tuesday while former Mayor of London Boris Johnson urged voters to go for a Brexit during a rowdy visit to Winchester on Thursday.

Millions of people across the UK are expected to go to the polls on Thursday June 23 to have their say on whether they want Britain to stay in or leave the EU.

Daily Echo reporters have taken to the streets to hear what residents have to say across the county, visiting Southampton, Winchester, Eastleigh, Lyndhurst and Fareham.

The poll revealed that Southampton had the highest number of people who plan to vote to leave and Winchester had the most people voting to remain in the EU.

Our random poll of 1,000 residents, found 46 per cent would vote to leave, 29 per cent to stay in and 25 per cent were undecided.

The indecision has been blamed on a lack of information with many saying they weren't surprised there was still doubts from constituents.

Southampton Itchen MP Royston Smith, who has backed a Brexit, said he thinks the lack of decision from voters is down to there not being enough independent information, with the majority of information coming from government funded leaflets and websites or the Brexit camp.

He said: "I think people are hearing too much from both the Brexit camp and the Remain camp, there is not enough independent information out there. I would advise that people should start looking at the principle of being in the EU rather than just the facts, I don't like the fact that we pay the EU money for them to give it back to us."

Southampton City Council leader Simon Letts and Southampton Test MP Alan Whitehead both refused to comment on the result of our poll saying it was unscientific, but both urged people to vote.

The city council voted earlier this month to back the Remain camp following a heated debate in which Cllr Letts said: “On the balance of the arguments this council believes it is in the interests of the city of Southampton for the UK to remain a member of the European Union."

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City council cabinet member for communities Cllr Satvir Kaur (above) said the result of the polls was disappointing.

She said: "I think people are frustrated with local services and I am worried that they will vote to leave just to spark changes. People need to see the difference that this will have a huge impact on the UK.

"It is disappointing that the people of Hampshire want to vote to leave the EU. There are really strong merits for staying, there will be huge economic benefits for Southampton if we vote to stay in.

"People seem to be unsure about which way to vote and I think they feel as though they haven't been given enough information. We debated the vote in full council and decided that it would be best to remain, this is a good thing because people try and look for council leaders to follow and take advice from. I hope more of the undecided people will do this."

Hot topics of debate with people polled included immigration concerns, the state of the economy in and out of the EU and job security.

When asked what people's reasons were for their decision to stay in or out, many people gave reasons such as the strain on the NHS, the history between Britain and Continental Europe, changes to maternity leave, the environment and schools, but Southampton voters said immigration was their biggest reason for wanting to leave.

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Eastleigh MP Mims Davies (above), who also backs Brexit, said she "wasn't surprised" so many people were still unsure which way they intended to vote.

She said: "The poll makes for interesting reading but the number of ‘don’t knows’ doesn’t surprise me because many people are still listening to the arguments and they’re accessing material to try and reach a decision.

"Others, I’m sure, will never make up their mind until they're in the ballot box and some will feel they can’t vote because they don’t know what to do, but that’s democracy and politicians and those campaigning can only do their best to reach as many voters as possible with their message.

"I will be voting to leave the EU. I hope the majority of the country joins me in that decision, but I haven’t been campaigning and I won’t be trying to influence the outcome, except to urge everyone to ensure they are registered, it’s vitally important that everyone has their say.”

THE SURVEY

The Daily Echo surveyed 1,000 people across five towns and cities in Hampshire.

Our reporters went to the streets of Southampton, Winchester, Eastleigh, Lyndhurst and Fareham to conduct the polls.

We spoke to 200 people chosen at random in each place between 10am and 5pm.

After asking people which way they were planning on voting, we asked their main reasons for the decision.

We offered the reasons of economy/jobs, sovereignty/democracy, immigration and security.

Interestingly, most people polled gave other reasons for voting but the second biggest reason was the economy and jobs.

This was closely followed by immigration and sovereignty/democracy.

The people of Hampshire didn't put much weight on the impact on security.

Southampton had the biggest number of people making their decision based on immigration.

Eastleigh had the biggest number of people making their decision due to jobs/economy.

Lyndhurst had the most people undecided as to how they will vote.

Number of people voting to leave – 464

Number of people voting to remain – 286

Number of people undecided – 250

THE REFERENDUM

The deadline to register to vote in the EU Referendum is June 7.

To register, visit eureferendum.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

The referendum will be on June 23.