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Polling stations open across England's North-West

Lauren HirstNorth West
EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock Small black-and-white dog strains on the lead outside a polling station, which has a large sign outside.EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
People - and maybe their dogs - will head to the polls to cast their vote

Polling stations have opened across parts of North-West England for the local elections.

Across the region, a total of 461 seats will be contested across 21 councils in the biggest set of elections since the 2024 general election.

People living in all of Greater Manchester's 10 boroughs will have the chance to vote, while there are also elections in some parts of Merseyside, Cheshire and Lancashire.

Votes will be counted after the polls close at 22:00 BST, with the results expected to be declared either overnight or later on Friday.

One third of seats will be contested in all of Greater Manchester's local authorities.

On Merseyside, Sefton and St Helens have all-out elections, in which every seat will be up for grabs, while one third of seats will be contested Knowsley.

A third of seats will also be contested in Halton in Cheshire.

In Lancashire, elections are taking place in Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Chorley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Preston and West Lancashire. One third of the seats will be contested in each area.

Read more stories from Cheshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC North West on X.