LATEST: Election Special

8pm - All election results for East and West Sussex are in and can be viewed on our website.

4.30pm - West Sussex Lib Dems take Burgess Hill Town and Northbrook

4.15pm - West Sussex Conservatives take Saltings, Kingston Buci, Cuckfield & Lucastes and East Grinstead South and Ashurst Wood.

4pm - Independent candidate "trounces" Lib Dems in Lewes

Ruth O'Keefe held on to her seat and gained a huge increase to her majority.

She beat her closest rival, the Lib Dem's Michael Charier with more than three times the number of votes.

Some people last time round might have felt they were taking a risk voting for an independent candidate four years ago," said Ms O'Keefe.

"But amazingly they must have felt I did the right thing and a lot of other people have now gone along with them."

In 2005, Ms O'Keefe received around 2,900 votes. Yesterday, 20 % less people turned up at the polls, but she secured more than 3,000.

3.40pm - Worthing results starting to be announced

Conservatives retain control of Kingston Buci ward.

3.15pm - Chailey declared Conservative

Meg Stroude has won the Lewes district ward with 59.7% of the vote.

3pm Ouse Valley East declared Lib Dem

Liberal Democrat Pat Ost has won the seat in the latest East Sussex result.

2.20pm - Tories celebrate winning extra four seats in Crawley

Conservative leader Henry Smith thanked the people of Crawley for their support.

"There have been some significant changes," he said.

"Four years ago we won just three seats in Crawley, today's results make it seven.

"So this is a significant number that we have gained from Labour.

"I want to thank the people of Crawley for their votes."

1.50pm- Final Crawley results released

The Tories now have seven seats in the town. Labour two.

1.20pm - Crawley results announced

The Conservatives have control of five Crawley wards. Labour have two wards, but results from two ward Pound Hill & Worth, and Tilgate & Furnace Green, are still being counted.

12.20pm - Latest results see Tories gain two seats but little change elsewhere.

The Tories have grabbed Bexhill East from the Lib Dems and Baird and Ore from Labour. But the Lib Dems have limited their loss by taking Upperton from the Tories in Eastbourne.

A total of 26 seats have so far been declared. Turnout is currently 43%.

12.05pm - Double win for Tories in Bexhill King Offa.

The Conservatives have won both seats in the Bexhill King Offa division. Michael Ensor and Joy Hughes were elected with 22.3% and 20.9% of the vote respectively.

The latest results bring the Conservatives' tally of seats to 15, the Liberal Democrats' have seven and Labour are left lagging behind with four.

11.50am - Tories pip Lib Dems to Bexhill East by just six votes.

Martin Kenward celebrates after six votes seperate his result of 946 from Lib Dem Martyn Forster's tally of 940.

11.40am - Tory seat retained.

Conservative councillor Carl Maynard keeps his seat in Rother's Brede Valley and Marsham with 62% of the vote.

11.30am - Head-to-head sees Tories triumph.

In a head-to-head battle for Rother North West, Conservative Anthony Barnes polled 63.8% of the vote to beat off contention by Liberal Democrat George Hearn who polled 36.2%.

11.20am - Latest results from East Sussex.

Northern Rother declared Conservative after Peter Jones polls 55.1% of the vote.

Lib Dem Kathryn Field wins 56.5% of the vote in Battle and Crowhurst.

The latest results bring the tally of seats so far in East Sussex to 12 for the Conservatives, seven for the Liberal Democrats and four for Labour.

11.02am - Rye and Eastern Rother declared Conservative.

Tory Keith Glazier gets 52.8% of the vote.

11am - Turnout as predicted.

The Argus' predictions of a turnout of under 40% at yesterday's elections have so far proved accurate.

The average turnout for the 22 seats so far declared in East Sussex, is given as 40%.

10am - Counting delays in parts of West Sussex.

The count in the Arun district will now start at noon, instead of the planned 9am start. But in Horsham the tough task of sifting through the thousands of votes has begun.

5.15am - The Conservatives have gained the Baird and Ore division in the Hastings borough on East Sussex County Council, the council's leader Peter Jones has reported.

The result gives the two parties an even split of the eight divisions with four each.

Full results are expected later today.

4.50am - Lib Dems gain a seat in Eastbourne's Upperton division.

Lib Dem Pat Rodohan snaps up Upperton from the Conservatives with 1491 votes - narrowly beating Tory rival Anne Angel who received 1352 votes. Labour candidate Elizabeth Goude gained just 90 votes from the electorate of 7811.

The Lib Dems held on to their other seats in Devonshire, Hampden Park, Old Town and St Anthony's.

Across all nine divisions in the Eastbourne borough, Labour were heavily outpolled by the UK Independence Party.

9.30pm - Voters' final chance to head to the polling stations

Residents have just half an hour left to vote in the elections.

Polling stations across the city will close at 10pm and the results will be announced tomorrow.

Despite a steady flow of voters at polling stations this evening as people finished work, overall turnout figures are expected to be low.

8.40pm - Polling stations note increase in voters after work

There has been a steady flow of voters at polling stations since people finished work.

At St Michael's Church Hall in St Michael's Place, Brighton, exit pollsters said turnout had been quite steady throughout the day and that there had been a particular increase as people stopped by on their way home from work.

Residents voting at the hall were even asked to fold their ballot papers up small, as room was running out in the ballot boxes.

6.11pm - Labour heading for disastrous results according to poll

Eve-of-election polling has suggested Labour is heading for disastrous results with the party registering just 16% of the vote nationally - behind even the UK Independence Party (Ukip).

Such a poor showing would increase the pressure on the Prime Minister, already reeling from ministerial resignations and fending off a backbench plot to oust him.

The low turnout, which is apparently unfolding across the county, is likely to depress the Labour vote further and boost smaller parties like Ukip and the far-right British National Party (BNP).

Minor parties - including the Greens - are already expected to benefit from the backlash against the major parties in the wake of the MPs' expenses scandal.

Ukip have cried foul to the Electoral Commission after feedback that voters did not realise the party was on the ballot in some areas because of the way the papers were folded.

5.25pm - More indications of poor turnout

Another exit pollster who had spent the day moving around polling stations in the Brunswick and Adelaide area of Hove said the number of people voting was the lowest he had seen in 20 years.

Meanwhile a pollster at Somerhill Junior School in Somerhill Road, Hove, said the turnout had been slow but steady.

She said: "It has been better than I was expecting."

4.20pm - Polling stations say voters have been slow to turn out

An exit pollster at the polling station in Preston Park, Brighton, said he had logged just 16 voters an hour heading to the ballot box.

At the Landport Community Centre in Horsfield Road, Lewes, the signs are marginally better.

Pollsters there say they have seen about 20 voters per hour but are expecting a flurry of activity as people head home from work.

Voter Denise Welch, from Blois Road, Lewes, was one of five who cast their ballot during the 15 minute spell while The Argus was at the station.

Mrs Welch said: "A lot of my friends aren't voting because of all the scandal. They don't think they can believe what the politicians are telling them on their doorsteps.

"I'm here because I want my voice to be heard. I'm more interested in the county council election than the European one though."

At the Coldean polling station the turnout has been slow so far. An exit pollster said he had seen around 20 voters per hour all day.

He said: "I've heard turnout could be as low as 15%. That would be terrible."

3pm - Expenses scandal could mean low turnout

Analysts have predicted today’s turnout for the European Parliament and county council elections could slump dramatically in the wake of the Government expenses scandal.

Some have suggested less than 40% of Europe’s 375 million residents will vote and as few as 22% of Britons will go to the polls to pick their MEP.

A low turnout for the European election is expected to drag down voter numbers in the West Sussex County Council and East Sussex County Council polls taking place at the same time.

The last two votes to select the councils were held on the same day as General Elections which boosted the number of people taking part.

In West Sussex, 60.79% of residents voted in 2001 and 64.84% went to the ballot box in 2005. More than one million people across Brighton and Hove and Sussex will be eligible to take part in the votes which will take place in schools, community centres and church halls today.

A slump in turnout could result in the councils being elected by less than half of those they represent.

National commentators have predicted a public backlash as a result of the revelations that dozens of MPs have exploited their expenses.

Opinion is split over whether voters will stay away altogether or cast their votes away from the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats in response.

UKIP, the Green Party and the BNP have all entered several candidates in Sussex and a handful of others will stand as independents and for smaller parties. Conservative Peter Jones, the current leader of East Sussex County Council, said he believed fears of a low turnout may not be fulfilled.

Councillor Jones said: “There’s an element of people thinking, ‘a curse on all your houses’ because of what has happened in Parliament but we’ve been getting a great reaction on the doorstep. The number of people who have said they are not going to vote is a handful.”

The polls will be open from 7am to 10pm. The county results will be made public on Friday, followed by the European results on Monday.

The first areas due to announced their results will be Eastbourne and Hastings, where counts will be held overnight. The right-wing BNP has targeted Hastings, entering all eight of its East Sussex candidates there.

Counts will take place in the East Sussex districts of Wealden, Lewes and Rother tomorrow morning and start in the West Sussex districts of Chichester, Horsham, Crawley, Arun, Adur, Worthing and Mid Sussex at 2pm. The Conservative currently have majorities on both councils.