Italy votes: Exit polls 'famously unreliable'

Exit polls from Italy's general election suggest a lead for the centre-left bloc led by Pier Luigi Bersani.

The bloc was projected to take 34.5% of the vote for the lower house with Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right group on 29% and a protest movement on 19%.

But, according to an early count, Mr Berlusconi's bloc seems to be leading in the upper house race.

The BBC's Katya Adler said that exit polls in Italy are "famously unreliable" and that the country would have to wait for a clearer picture of results to emerge.