"Now vote for their reading material - will it be Crochet Today, or Knitting Monthly?

Michael Ledwich, 22, and David Kent, 18, are undertaking challenges such as extreme sandwich making and karaoke in a 7 metre by 2.5 plastic cage at the Liverpool Community College Arts Centre on Myrtle Street.

"People think that one person can't make a difference, but that's not true," says David.

"Look at what happened in America when one black woman refused to give up her seat on the bus [Rosa Parks, who famously refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in 1955, kick-starting the modern civil rights movement].

The lads pray that no-one takes an interest in their under crackers...

"Just now I'm worried about tuition fees and loans. I finish my course next year and leave with a huge amount of debt. I haven't been eligible to vote until now, but I will do at the next opportunity.

"It's better than doing nothing."

Fellow student Michael Ledwich shares similar concerns.

It's a box, Jim, but not as we know it.

"I've always voted, as soon as I was able to. My Mum encouraged me to talk about it and reach a rational decision for myself.

"I don't know anyone else my age to have voted. People seem too caught up in the social aspect of university life to bother, but I think it's hypocritical if someone doesn't vote and then complains about the government in power."

...that is, apart from doing nothing - the nation's favourite (non)pursuit!

Some of the hot topics that look set to stir the waters here in Liverpool include a proposed ban on public smoking and plans for a private police force with the power to eject people from the revamped City Centre.

The campaign's launch in Liverpool was prompted by the fact that the city recorded the lowest voter turnout in the UK in the 2001 general election. The box will then tour 10 more cities in conjunction with the first-ever TV campaign to encourage stay-away voters to exercise their right.