Residents have today begun casting their votes at polling stations across West Sussex to elect their local councillors.

In their hands is the fate of parish, borough and district councillors across the area.

Polling stations will be open until 9pm tonight, when the arduous task of counting the piles of voting slips begins.

In Worthing, the two main parties, the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, are expected to take the 12 borough council seats being contested.

Tories are planning to focus on the derelict Teville Gate shopping precinct, the deteriorating state of Worthing Leisure Centre in Shaftesbury Avenue and the Aquarena swimming pool in Brighton Road.

Lib Dems, who have a slim majority of two seats, are promising to improve the town's leisure facilities with an initial £250,000 investment.

Elsewhere, Tories at Arun District Council are unlikely to lose control because of a long-standing majority - it has a total of 37 members while nearest rivals the Lib Dems have nine - but the other parties are intent on gaining ground.

Tories are pledging to continue to work on crime reduction and community safety issues, the Lib Dems are promising to give more autonomy to Bognor, Arundel and Littlehampton and Labour is intent on giving town and parish councils a greater hand in decision making.

In Chichester district, 28 seats are being contested at the Tory-ruled council. The party's majority of nine seats could be affected by recent council tax rises.

Tories have vowed to focus on providing affordable housing and improving public transport while the Lib Dems intend to improve recycling and keep taxes down and Labour promises to channel public spending into education, social workers, community centres and roads.

Chichester council spokeswoman Philippa Hurst said: "Many people think their vote won't make a difference but it will.

"Councillors have to make key decisions that could result in major changes in the district, such as tackling a lack of affordable houses within the district, creating new jobs and encouraging businesses to move here.

"All of these affect you."