The Conservatives have retained control of Rochford District Council with several early holds and a gain in Roche North and Rural.
The party started the day with 26 of 39 seats.
Epping Forest District Council: Conservative hold
The Conservatives have held on to Epping Forest District Council.
Castle Point Borough Council: Conservative hold
The Conservatives have held on to Castle Point.
The party held 27 of the 41 seats before the election with 17 up for grabs.
Independents making gains in Thurrock
Doug Faulkner
BBC News Online
Thurrock Independent Allen Mayes has taken Tilbury Riverside from Labour.
The group, primarily made up of former UKIP councillors, started the night with nine seats.
However, independent (with a small i) Frank Massey has won East Tilbury from the Thurrock Independents, taking 984 votes to their 74.
LDRSCopyright: LDRS
Harlow Council: Labour hold
At the start of the night Harlow Council was the only Labour-controlled authority in Essex and the party has maintained control there.
Four of the seven wards declared so far have been won by Labour, with the Conservatives taking three.
There are a further four seats to be declared.
Tight battle for Colchester
The Conservatives are one seat away from a majority on Colchester Borough Council that would see them wrest control from a Labour/Lib Dem/Independent coalition.
But Tory leader Darius Laws is fighting for his seat in the hotly-contested Castle ward and BBC Essex political reporter Charlotte Rose says he has some nerves about holding the seat.
Once the Roman capital of Britain, the town is one of the fastest-growing areas in the region and part of plans for three "garden communities".
A third of the council's 51 seats are up for grabs.
Candidates for the borough council said housing had put pressure on health centres, schools and roads.
The Conservatives are a seat away from a majority that would overthrow the current "rainbow coalition" of Liberal Democrat, Labour and independent councillors.
Conservatives hope to hold on to Essex
Charlotte Rose
BBC Essex political reporter
PACopyright: PA
In Essex 14 councils are
holding polls today, with a total of 359 seats up for grabs.
The Conservatives
are defending 259 seats, while Labour have just 27 and other parties are defending 74
seats.
Braintree District is one of nine areas in England to be part of a voter identification pilot. The test
is only going ahead after a man from Witham failed in his attempt to get the
High Court to rule it unlawful.
In Colchester, the Conservatives
need just one seat to take control of the council, currently run by a
coalition of Liberal Democrats, Labour and Independents.
The Tories could
see gains in some wards but lose their leader, who faces a tough battle against
the Greens in Castle ward.
Tendring used to be the home of
UKIP, which now has just five councillors remaining on the Conservative-run
authority. Here the number of seats is reducing from 60 to 48, which could make it harder for the Tories to maintain control.
Turnouts could be low, but small parties may make gains
Andrew Sinclair
BBC Look East political correspondent
The politics of the East of England is dominated by
the Conservatives.
They run 25 out of the 37 local authorities in the BBC East region
and the expectation is they will continue to do so after tonight.
But how many seats will they lose?
The sitting government always expects to take a hit at local elections, but this year things have been
complicated by Brexit.
The East was a largely Leave-voting area
and canvassers have found real frustration on the doorsteps.
I have heard stories about
Conservatives taking off their rosettes before delivering leaflets; of
doors being slammed in faces, candidates sworn at and even one Tory being
punched.
And it is not just the Tories. All the main
parties have reported a far more fractious atmosphere among voters.
So what will that mean for polling?
Turnouts are always much lower than for general elections and it looks as if it will be very low this time.
Anything under 30% is bad, but I am hearing it could be much lower.
It could be a good night for the
smaller parties and independent candidates.
The public do not think much of our
politicians at the moment and they may have shown that at the polls.
The picture in Cambridgeshire
The BBC has reporters across the country to keep us up to speed with the results in their area. In Cambridgeshire, the whole of East Cambridgeshire and Fenland district councils are up for election, while a third of seats are being contested at Cambridge City Council.
GoogleCopyright: Google
East Cambridgeshire has 39 councillors: 35 Conservatives, three Liberal Democrats and one independent. Fenland also has 39 councillors: 33 Conservative, three independents and three Lib Dems.
Cambridge City Council is under Labour control. Of its 42 councillors, 25 are Labour, 13 are Liberal Democrats, and there are two independents and one Green councillor, plus one vacancy.
Local elections 2019: The view from Peterborough, Milton Keynes and Bedford
Most
of these council seats were last contested in 2015. If a week is a long time in
politics, then four years is a lifetime.
Back then, the Conservatives won a
surprise majority in the General Election and the party’s
national popularity helped local Tory groups pick up dozens of council seats.
It means that while Labour and the Liberal Democrats are defending around half
their total number of seats on our councils, the Conservatives are defending
three quarters of them. That’s a huge ask, even before policies or the public’s
mood come into it.
Peterborough
will be closely scrutinised. Anger remains over the former Labour MP Fiona
Onasanya’s criminal conviction and refusal to quit. Conservatives hold the council with a
majority of just one – a small shift could lead it into no overall control or
further strengthen their standing.
Labour
has minority control of Milton Keynes Council, supported by Liberal Democrats. But the Tories are the largest party. Will Labour pick up enough seats for an outright majority? They would need to pick up eight, which will be tough.
Elsewhere,
Bedford will elect a mayor. Can the Liberal Democrat incumbent Dave Hodgson secure a
fourth term?
Live Reporting
All times stated are UK
Rochford District Council: Conservative hold
The Conservatives have retained control of Rochford District Council with several early holds and a gain in Roche North and Rural.
The party started the day with 26 of 39 seats.
Epping Forest District Council: Conservative hold
The Conservatives have held on to Epping Forest District Council.
Castle Point Borough Council: Conservative hold
The Conservatives have held on to Castle Point.
The party held 27 of the 41 seats before the election with 17 up for grabs.
Independents making gains in Thurrock
Doug Faulkner
BBC News Online
Thurrock Independent Allen Mayes has taken Tilbury Riverside from Labour.
The group, primarily made up of former UKIP councillors, started the night with nine seats.
However, independent (with a small i) Frank Massey has won East Tilbury from the Thurrock Independents, taking 984 votes to their 74.
Harlow Council: Labour hold
At the start of the night Harlow Council was the only Labour-controlled authority in Essex and the party has maintained control there.
Four of the seven wards declared so far have been won by Labour, with the Conservatives taking three.
There are a further four seats to be declared.
Tight battle for Colchester
The Conservatives are one seat away from a majority on Colchester Borough Council that would see them wrest control from a Labour/Lib Dem/Independent coalition.
But Tory leader Darius Laws is fighting for his seat in the hotly-contested Castle ward and BBC Essex political reporter Charlotte Rose says he has some nerves about holding the seat.
Liberal Democrats confident in North Norfolk
Jo Thewlis
BBC Radio Norfolk political reporter
The Liberal Democrats are looking chipper at the North Norfolk count at North Walsham High School.
The party has been running the hung council since November after the Conservatives lost control following a vote of no confidence in their leader.
The Tories, meanwhile, are not looking so happy.
First results coming in at Basildon count
Labour have won five of the first seven seats declared in Basildon Borough Council's elections.
In a strong early showing the party has taken Laindon Park from the Conservatives with John Scarola elected.
Conservative Kevin Blake has won in Burstead while Independent Pauline Kettle has taken Nethermayne.
'Work needed' to help Norwich's homelessness
More work is needed to help homeless people in Norwich, despite a fall in rough sleeper numbers, local election candidates have said.
Numbers of homeless people in Norwich have dropped from 34 to 21 between 2016 and 2018, although in 2010 the figure was recorded as four.
The number of city households living in temporary accommodation has increased from 21 to 50 in the same period.
A homelessness strategy for the city, drawn up last year, found family breakdowns led to many people sleeping on the streets.
Labour holds 31 seats on the city council, with five for the Green Party and three for the Liberal Democrats.
Colchester 'creaking' from homes growth
Colchester’s infrastructure is "creaking" under the pressure of housing development, according to politicians.
Once the Roman capital of Britain, the town is one of the fastest-growing areas in the region and part of plans for three "garden communities".
A third of the council's 51 seats are up for grabs.
Candidates for the borough council said housing had put pressure on health centres, schools and roads.
The Conservatives are a seat away from a majority that would overthrow the current "rainbow coalition" of Liberal Democrat, Labour and independent councillors.
Conservatives hope to hold on to Essex
Charlotte Rose
BBC Essex political reporter
In Essex 14 councils are holding polls today, with a total of 359 seats up for grabs.
The Conservatives are defending 259 seats, while Labour have just 27 and other parties are defending 74 seats.
Braintree District is one of nine areas in England to be part of a voter identification pilot. The test is only going ahead after a man from Witham failed in his attempt to get the High Court to rule it unlawful.
In Colchester, the Conservatives need just one seat to take control of the council, currently run by a coalition of Liberal Democrats, Labour and Independents.
The Tories could see gains in some wards but lose their leader, who faces a tough battle against the Greens in Castle ward.
Tendring used to be the home of UKIP, which now has just five councillors remaining on the Conservative-run authority. Here the number of seats is reducing from 60 to 48, which could make it harder for the Tories to maintain control.
Turnouts could be low, but small parties may make gains
Andrew Sinclair
BBC Look East political correspondent
The politics of the East of England is dominated by the Conservatives.
They run 25 out of the 37 local authorities in the BBC East region and the expectation is they will continue to do so after tonight.
But how many seats will they lose?
The sitting government always expects to take a hit at local elections, but this year things have been complicated by Brexit.
The East was a largely Leave-voting area and canvassers have found real frustration on the doorsteps.
I have heard stories about Conservatives taking off their rosettes before delivering leaflets; of doors being slammed in faces, candidates sworn at and even one Tory being punched.
And it is not just the Tories. All the main parties have reported a far more fractious atmosphere among voters.
So what will that mean for polling?
Turnouts are always much lower than for general elections and it looks as if it will be very low this time.
It was about 36% for the 2018 local elections, compared to a turnout of 69% for the 2017 General Election and 72% for the EU referendum in 2016.
Anything under 30% is bad, but I am hearing it could be much lower.
It could be a good night for the smaller parties and independent candidates.
The public do not think much of our politicians at the moment and they may have shown that at the polls.
The picture in Cambridgeshire
The BBC has reporters across the country to keep us up to speed with the results in their area. In Cambridgeshire, the whole of East Cambridgeshire and Fenland district councils are up for election, while a third of seats are being contested at Cambridge City Council.
East Cambridgeshire has 39 councillors: 35 Conservatives, three Liberal Democrats and one independent. Fenland also has 39 councillors: 33 Conservative, three independents and three Lib Dems.
Cambridge City Council is under Labour control. Of its 42 councillors, 25 are Labour, 13 are Liberal Democrats, and there are two independents and one Green councillor, plus one vacancy.
Local elections 2019: The view from Peterborough, Milton Keynes and Bedford
Ben Schofield
Political correspondent, BBC Look East
Most of these council seats were last contested in 2015. If a week is a long time in politics, then four years is a lifetime.
Back then, the Conservatives won a surprise majority in the General Election and the party’s national popularity helped local Tory groups pick up dozens of council seats.
It means that while Labour and the Liberal Democrats are defending around half their total number of seats on our councils, the Conservatives are defending three quarters of them. That’s a huge ask, even before policies or the public’s mood come into it.
Peterborough will be closely scrutinised. Anger remains over the former Labour MP Fiona Onasanya’s criminal conviction and refusal to quit. Conservatives hold the council with a majority of just one – a small shift could lead it into no overall control or further strengthen their standing.
Labour has minority control of Milton Keynes Council, supported by Liberal Democrats. But the Tories are the largest party. Will Labour pick up enough seats for an outright majority? They would need to pick up eight, which will be tough.
Elsewhere, Bedford will elect a mayor. Can the Liberal Democrat incumbent Dave Hodgson secure a fourth term?