Voters in English towns and cities go to the polls today in local elections involving nearly 18,000 candidates.

Today's elections will affect 174 councils - including all the 32 London boroughs. In the capital, 6,000 candidates are fighting the 1,861 council seats which are up for grabs.

Also up for election are one third of councillors in England's 36 metropolitan boroughs.

Six unitary authorities will see all their members standing for election, whilst a further 12 unitary councils will elect one third of their memberships.

A further 46 district councils are up for election, with a third of a further 42 also going to the polls today.

Labour is defending 2,745 seats, the Tories 1,771 and the Lib Dems 1223.

A total of 17,788 candidates are standing - 5,470 Conservatives, 5,329 Labour, 4,368 Lib Dems, 1,046 from other parties and 1,575 independents.

Making today's elections an unknown quantity is the fact that in the areas where the whole council is up for re-election there have been extensive boundary changes.

Also taking place today are mayoral polls in Doncaster, Hartlepool, Lewisham, Middlesbrough, Newham, North Tyneside and Watford.

For these polls a supplementary vote system, where voters have to record a first and second preference, will be used.

Referendums on the principle of having an elected mayor will also take place in Hackney, Mansfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Oxford and Stoke-on-Trent.

Reports on the election results and the mayoral polls will be carried on ePolitix.com from 7.00am on Friday.

In an attempt to reverse the downward trend in turnout the government is using a variety of new pilot initiatives.

A wide range of initiatives - from full postal ballots to text and electronic voting - will be used across England tomorrow. In 13 councils full postal ballots will be held.

Local government secretary Stephen Byers said ministers would examine the voters' response to these before considering whether to extend any of the schemes.

In Chorley, where a full postal ballot is being held, some 53 per cent of voters had returned their postal ballots by midday on Tuesday.

This compares to a total turnout of just 32 per cent when the last council elections were held in the area.

Similar increases in turnout have also been seen in Gateshead, South Tyneside and Stevenage.

But in some areas voter response to the new initiatives had set alarm bells ringing.

In the London borough of Hackney just 20 per cent had returned their ballots on Tuesday, compared to a 34 per cent turnout at the last London borough elections.