SCOTLAND SAYS NO! SNP leaders admit to 'deep disappointment as Better Together campaign heads for clear victory in referendum. Daily Mail

  LATEST: With 29 of the 32 council areas in Scotland now declared, No leads on 55% with Yes on 45%

  Salmond takes to the skies after pulling the plug on a planned appearance at his local count in Aberdeenshire 

  Clackmannanshire - rated most likely to vote Yes by Credit Suisse - rejected independence in first result of the night  

  Yes wins in Dundee, Glasgow, North Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire, but is trailling by 200,000 votes

  Allegations of 10 electoral fraud cases in Glasgow as voters 'turn up to polling station to find they had already voted'

  Thousands of Yes campaigners in Glasgow's George Square waving Saltires and burning flares - but some arrested  

  David Cameron to address the nation early on Friday morning to set out ways to 'rebalance' power across the UK   

  The Queen is following events 'closely' and will make a statement tomorrow in response to the public's decision

  A former St Helens councillor was charged with assault as she campaigned against Scottish independence in Glasgow 

  Tennis champion Andy Murray rows back from pro-independence tweet, insisting he will still play for Team GB 

Better Together leader Alistair Darling today said he was 'humbled' by the level of support for the United Kingdom, as the people of Scotland overwhelmingly rejected Alex Salmond's lifelong push for independence.

Mr Darling hailed an 'extraordinary night' in which 55 per cent of people voted against separation, with just 45 per cent in favour.

In the early hours, Mr Salmond shunned the cameras to board a private jet from Aberdeen to Edinburgh, contemplating the comprehensive failure of his efforts to destroy the 307-year-old Union.

But in a message posted on Twitter he praised the city of Glasgow, one of the few places to vote in favour of independence, and 'the people of Scotland for such a incredible support'.

He hoped to triumph in one of the most extraordinary political battles in British history, but the determination of the people of Scotland means the United Kingdom remains in tact, and Mr Salmond faces the grim prospect of being forced out of office. He will make a public statement at 6.20am.

Turnout has topped 90 per cent in pro-Union areas, but in the key working-class areas where Yes needed big wins, turnout dropped to the mid-70s.

Mr Cameron will seek to exploit the result with an early morning television address today, holding out the prospect of Scottish MPs being excluded from voting on English affairs.

As a Yes campaign rally in George Square in Glasgow fizzled out, officials in the city launched an investigation into 10 cases of suspected electoral fraud at polling stations.

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