Local fight is the centre of attention

12:05pm Thursday 1st May 2008

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THE eyes of the country will be on Bury today as residents vote in the local elections.

A phalanx of media has descended on the town to cover what they see as one of the most vital polls in the region.

It could be because the result hangs on a knife-edge, with the Tories looking to take outright control of Bury Council for the first time in 22 years. They need to win just three seats, and have been bringing the big guns to town to whip up support: both David Cameron and William Hague have made two visits recently.

Reporting teams from The Times, NW Tonight, Granada, Sky News, MEN, BBC Radio Manchester, Newsnight and others will all be at the count tonight - not forgetting, of course, the Bury Times!

A team from Radio 5 Live was also in Bury yesterday getting local opinions on Bury Market - listeners can tune in to their Election Special once the polls close at 10pm.

l Election staff in Bury are confident that the chances of voter fraud are lower here than elsewhere.

A new report from the Joseph Rowntree Trust criticises the current voting arrangements, especially postal votes. It suggests that residents should show photo ID when voting, and that there should be individual registration papers for postal voting, not one for the whole household.

The law requires staff to check the signatures and dates of birth on 20 per cent of all postal vote declarations - but in Bury, they check 100 per cent of them, and by hand.

l Log onto the Bury Times website for full election results: urytimes.co.uk