Campaigning has entered the home straight for the local government elections ahead of tomorrow's polls across England.

Polls are predicting a record low turnout - prompting fears that extremist parties such as the BNP could pull off surprise results in areas such as Oldham and Burnley.

All three party leaders are expected to use this afternoon's session of prime minister's questions to score points ahead of the election.

Labour is seeking to keep law and order at the top agenda, with an announcement on street crime from home secretary David Blunkett.

Speaking in a party election broadcast last night, Tony Blair told voters: "We have a duty to give respect back to the society in which you live."

Labour wheeled out its big guns, including Blunkett, Charles Clarke, John Prescott, Stephen Byers and Estelle Morris, at a press conference this morning.

Blunkett said that "crime and the fear of crime" was the dominant issue on the doorstep.

The Tories have also gone on the attack today, urging voters to "scratch beneath the spin" of the Labour government.

Party chairman David Davis urged voters to look at Labour's record in government before they cast their vote.

"If you scratch beneath the spin you find that Tony Blair's closed mind is condemning us to third-class public services, people are paying more to, but getting less from an unprincipled government that resorts to short-term initiatives, not long-term solutions," he said.

"Tony Blair's failure is hurting the most vulnerable in our society."

The Liberal Democrats have given an upbeat assessment of their prospects, confident they can win big in their target seats such as Norwich and build on their success in Liverpool where the party controls the council.

"Liberal Democrat councils are delivering for their local people high quality services for their people," said party leader Charles Kennedy.

London battle

In the capital, 6000 candidates are fighting the 1861 council seats which are up for grabs.

The poll is being used as an attempt to pilot a series of new initiatives. Residents of Newham are being given the chance to vote on-line, whilst in Greenwich, Hackney and Havering all votes will be cast by post.

To encourage those who work long hours to turn out and vote, polling stations will stay open until 10.00pm in Camden, Wandsworth and Westminster.

Despite the new initiatives, analysts predict that voter turnout will be low - and could fall below the 34.7 per cent turnout recorded at the last London borough elections in 1998.

The elections in London will be a key test for Labour, which holds over 1000 of the seats up for grabs tomorrow.

The Lib Dems are hoping to make advances - attempting to rise above their 1998 watermark of 301 seats.

In Southwark, the Lib Dems are hoping to make gains and take control of a council once considered a solid Labour fiefdom.

The council is being fought on new boundaries and the Lib Dems need to make just six gains to seize control of the London borough for the first time.

In Newham and Lewisham voters will also be asked to choose a new directly-elected local mayor for the first time.

The campaign in Lewisham has been overshadowed by claims of racism after Tory candidate Derek Scott was criticised for a poster which urged voters to back "one of your own".

Sinna Mani, an Asian who is fighting as the Green Party's candidate, asked Scott to remove the posters and says she received no response.

Racial issues have also risen up the agenda in councils such as Redbridge where the BNP is fielding two candidates.

The Tories, who are down-playing suggestions of making serious progress, are privately hoping to build upon the 537 seats they currently hold in the capital.

The party says it is hoping to make "modest gains" but claims it faces an uphill struggle in elections centred upon "urban areas and traditional Labour strongholds".

Redbridge, currently a borough with no overall control, is also a key target for the Tories. The party needs just nine gains to snatch this east London council.

Labour fears

Labour risks losing control of key councils outside the capital.

In Stoke-on-Trent, where the party held all 60 seats just five years ago, a disparate group of independents allied with the Lib Dems appears set to oust the Labour Party from overall control.

Meanwhile the party is expecting to receive a bloody nose in Middlesbrough where "Robocop" Ray Mallon appears set to defeat Labour's candidate in the election to become the town's first directly-elected mayor.