THE count in Winchester for the Hampshire County Council elections was this evening disrupted by a fire alarm.

The count has since been suspended to resume tomorrow morning.

Dozens of ballot boxes were carried out of the River Park Leisure Centre by election staff after the fire alarm sounded earlier this evening at around 7.30pm

Scores of tellers, candidates and supporters had to evacuate the sports centre and wait in the car park.

A fire engine from Winchester station attended but firefighters found no fire.

The count was reported to have been late getting under way and this will have delayed things further.

Winchester city councillor Kelsie Learney tweeted: " When the BBC said Winchester was one to watch we didn't think it would be due to a fire alarm!"

The count for Winchester City Council was due to start tomorrow morning. The Chronicle will be running a live blog from the event.

In a statement which has just been released the city council said: "There was a fire alarm at 7.30pm at River Park Leisure Centre. 

"Following a short evacuation, all count observers, candidates and staff are accounted for. 

"We are adjourning for today (Friday 7 May) and will return to continue the verification and proceed to the count of Hampshire County Council and Winchester City Council ballots tomorrow (Saturday 8 May) at 10am. 

"We will share further updates throughout the day tomorrow."

This means that the final results of the county council elections will not be announced tonight.