Sunshine brings local voters out
Police keep a watching brief in the West Midlands
Early signs suggest turnout will be above average in the local elections in England, as voters stream to polling stations in bright sunshine.
Some 144 English authorities and all 32 of London's boroughs are holding votes, as 4,360 council seats are contested. Thirty-six metropolitan authorities and 20 unitary authorities are electing a third of their council members, while 88 districts are also holding polls.
Watford, Hackney, Newham and Lewisham are holding mayoral elections.
And a referendum is taking place in Crewe on whether the Cheshire town should have an elected mayor.
Although 23m people - more than half the UK's electorate - are eligible to take part, turnouts in local elections are historically low, with only about a third bothering to vote.
But there was an early indication of increased turnout in south London's Lambeth Borough, where Labour and the Liberal Democrats are battling for control.
2006 ENGLISH ELECTIONS
32 London boroughs
36 metropolitan authorities
88 district councils
4 mayoral elections
Every council, every election
About 3.5% of the electorate voted in the first two hours at a polling station in key marginal Streatham South ward.
A projection, allowing for the fact that half of those voting traditionally do so after 1700BST - and taking account of postal votes - suggests a final turnout figure of nearly 40% compared with just over 30% last time.
Temparatures in London have reached 26C, making it the warmest day of the year so far.
Late night
Polls will be open until 2200 BST - a change from previous local elections - to bring them into line with the opening hours of polling stations at general elections.
Prime Minister Tony Blair and wife Cherie cast their vote at their local polling station in Westminster.
Conservative leader David Cameron and wife Samantha attended a polling station near their West London home.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell does not have a vote, as his home address is in Scotland, where no elections are taking place.
The Blairs arrive at their local polling station in Westminster
The leaders face a long night waiting for results to come in, with a full picture of how their parties have done unlikely to emerge much before dawn.
The first results are due around midnight in the North-West, followed in the early hours of Friday by councils in the Midlands, North and shire counties.
But many London boroughs - where all of the seats are up for grabs, making it a key battleground - are expected to declare between 0300BST and 0600BST.
Police deployed
KEY DECLARATIONS
2200: Voting ends, first exit polls released
0015: Rochdale
0130: Camden
0145: Birmingham
0200: Tower Hamlets
0230: Barking and Dagenham
0245: Hull
0300: Hammersmith and Fulham
Meanwhile, police officers are being deployed at several inner-city polling stations to prevent vote-rigging.
West Midlands Police said officers would be sent to Bordesley Green in Birmingham, where specialist electoral fraud investigators have uncovered alleged irregularities relating to 190 postal votes.
Extra officers are also being deployed in Bradford, where police have launched an investigation into a "small number" of vote fraud claims.
The Camerons cast their vote near their West London home
In the metropolitan council areas, Labour has the most candidates - 821. The Conservatives have 772, Liberal Democrats 708 and others 875.
In the shire districts, the Conservatives are fielding 1,326 candidates, Labour 1,172, the Liberal Democrats 1,052 and others 782.
In total across England, the "others" include 1,251 Green candidates, 363 from the BNP, 319 from UKIP and 162 from Respect - the Unity Coalition.
. Seems I will have to wait for my first vote.
