PEOPLE across Hampshire will head to the polls today to vote in a series of crunch elections.

Residents in Southampton, Winchester, Eastleigh and Fareham will all elect councillors, while across the county voters will also choose the next Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).

In Southampton the poll has been described as a "knife-edge" election, with Labour and the Conservatives tussling for control of the city.

Labour swept to power in 2012 and have been in charge ever since, but their majority has been cut to two.

Eighteen of the council's 48 seats are up for grabs, when taking into account by-elections in Harefield and Woolston after the current councillors stood down.

The independent anti-cuts group are seeking to add to their existing two councillors while the Liberal Democrats, UKIP, Greens and Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition are all vying for a seat alongside independent candidates in Redbridge and Coxford.

Winchester will also be the stage for a dramatic battle for power, with all of the city council's seats up for grabs after the number was slashed from 57 to 45 by boundary changes.

The Conservatives currently hold power with 33 councillors to the Liberal Democrats' 22 and Labour's two.

But they are joined on the ballot paper in several areas by the Greens, who are contesting ten seats, UKIP (six), and an organised group of Independents (five).

In Eastleigh a third of the borough's 45 seats will have councillors elected today, with the ruling Lib Dems defending 12 seats, the Conservatives two and one seat occupied by an independent. who is not standing for re-election.

The Liberal Democrats currently hold 37 seats to the Tories' six.

Further east along the M27, Fareham Borough Council has half of its 31 council seats up for grabs, with the Conservatives currently holding 24 of them.

The Liberal Democrats hold three, independents two and UKIP one while one seat is vacant.

Sixteen seats will be contested in the borough today, with 11 of them held by the Tories.

Hampshire County Council is not holding elections this year, but people living in the wards of Fareham Town and Headley will also be casting their votes in by-elections called after the current councillors stood down.

While the results of all of the council elections will start to be declared in the early hours of tomorrow (Fri, May 6) morning, those for the PCC elections will be announced later in the day.

There are seven candidates standing in the second-ever elections for the role, introduced in 2012 to oversee policing in the county and hold the Chief Constable to account.

The hopefuls standing this year are Richard Adair (Liberal Democrat), the incumbent Simon Hayes (Independent), Steve Watts (Zero Tolerance Policing), Ron Price (Labour), Michael Lane (Conservative), Roy Swales (UKIP) and Don Jerrard (Independent).