Telford borough goes to the polls

Thousands of voters across parts of Shropshire and Mid Wales were going to the polls today in a series of local elections and a referendum to decide the way MPs are elected.

Residents in Telford & Wrekin were casting their vote in borough and parish council elections, while in Powys people were voting in the Welsh Assembly elections.

And across the UK voters will determine how future MPs will be elected to Parliament in the Alternative Vote referendum.

There were elections in 279 English council areas today while Welsh voters were choosing 60 assembly members and in Scotland 129 MSPs will be elected to Holyrood.

Polling stations opened at 7am today and people have until 10pm to cast their vote

Results for the Welsh Assembly and borough elections are expected by around 4am tomorrow, with the count for the AV referendum announced tomorrow afternoon.

In Telford & Wrekin, nearly 41,000 people applied for a postal vote and bosses at the borough council have said 50 per cent of postal voters have already returned their ballot papers.

Telford's returning officer Victor Brownlees has urged people to "take 10 minutes" from their day to visit their local polling station and cast their vote.

He said: "Whatever way you chose to vote make sure you have your say."

The elections will be the first big test for the coalition government. Polls show the Lib Dem-supported AV referendum may fail, putting strain on Liberal Democrat and Conservative colleagues.

If the UK moved to the alternative vote system, voters would be able to rank candidates numerically in order of preference instead of nominating one candidate under the current "first past the post" system.