See how the first part of local election night unfolded

Summary

After the first 80 councils had been declared there was no clear winner
In mixed results for the main parties, Labour gained Plymouth, while the Conservatives took Peterborough and Basildon, and the Lib Dems won Richmond
Trafford, Derby and Nuneaton & Bedworth moved to no overall control
Sinn Fein held Tyrone West in a parliamentary by-election

Live Reporting

Andy McFarlane, Sam Francis and Justin Parkinson

Voting #hashtag steps up a gearpublished at 10:54 British Summer Time 3 May 2018
Not to be outdone by dogs, the #bikesatpollingstations brigade have been out, voting.
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A correspondent writes...published at 10:44 British Summer Time 3 May 2018
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Laura and Huw are here for your all-nighterpublished at 10:20 British Summer Time 3 May 2018
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Local elections keeping it... localpublished at 10:08 British Summer Time 3 May 2018
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Polling stations pop uppublished at 09:58 British Summer Time 3 May 2018
The country's network of polling stations has popped up in village halls and other community centres across England.
Image source, AFP
Image caption,
Here, clerks put up the signs outside Victoria and Jubilee Halls in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire...
Image source, AFP
Image caption,
...in time for the first voter of the day.
Image source, PA
Image caption,
The nation's polling stations come in all shapes and sizes. Near Sheffield, voters make their way to Oughtibridge parish centre.
Image source, PA
Image caption,
People have until 22:00 BST to vote; with results due through the night and into Friday.
Tonight's Question Time line-uppublished at 09:46 British Summer Time 3 May 2018
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Who? What? Why?published at 09:40 British Summer Time 3 May 2018
Why are only some councils up for election?
What do councillors actually do and what am I voting for?
Confused about this and other key issues? These questions and many more are answered here by the BBC.
Image source, PA
May casts her votepublished at 09:18 British Summer Time 3 May 2018
Image source, PA
The Prime Minister has cast her vote. Here she is with husband Philip leaving the polling station at the Methodist Central Hall, Westminster.
West Tyrone by-election under waypublished at 09:11 British Summer Time 3 May 2018
There is also a by-election for one MP seat at Westminster on Thursday.
Constituents in West Tyrone are voting for a new MP after the resignation of Sinn Féin's Barry McElduff earlier this year.
The five candidates are:
- Órfhlaith Begley, Sinn Féin
- Thomas Buchanan, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)
- Stephen Donnelly, Alliance
- Daniel McCrossan, Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)
- Chris Smyth, Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)
Who are you?published at 09:06 British Summer Time 3 May 2018
This year sees pilot schemes - in Swindon, Woking, Watford, Gosport and Bromley - where voters will have to prove who they are.
Full details about this and what ID is required in each of the pilot areas are on the UK government website, external.
Panic not - everyone else will be able to vote as usual, and will not need to take their polling card or other form of identity with them.
What does the local council do?published at 09:02 British Summer Time 3 May 2018
With turn-out for local elections far lower than for general ones, you might be asking what do my councillors actually do? If I go and vote, who am I voting for?
Here's our guide to what's at stake today including a handy explainer from the BBC's Chris Mason.
It's #dogsatpollingstations daypublished at 08:57 British Summer Time 3 May 2018
Of course for some, today represents an important exercise in democracy.
For others, it's #dogsatpollingstations day. It's already trending as early voters multi-task a walk with a vote.
Here are a few of the most imploring so far....
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Cuppa and a votepublished at 08:47 British Summer Time 3 May 2018
Image source, PA
Image caption,
Polling stations come in all sorts of shapes and sizes - like this one in Sheffield, at the Bank View Cafe
And the winner is..?published at 08:43 British Summer Time 3 May 2018
When the results come in tonight and on Friday, interpreting them is not always straightforward.
Some councils are electing all their members, but in other areas it is only a proportion of seats.
As for working out which parties have performed best, it's worth bearing in mind that this time around, elections are weighted towards places where Labour is strong - they hold more than half the seats being contested.
In 2017, the elections happened predominantly in areas where the Conservatives dominated.
Here's our guide on how to tell who won.
Are elections happening near me?published at 08:38 British Summer Time 3 May 2018
Here's our guide to where elections are taking place, including a postcode search tool.
It has all the detail on today's poll - including why some councils have only a third of their seats open for election and where mayoral elections are happening.
Welcome to our live coveragepublished at 08:34 British Summer Time 3 May 2018
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the local and mayoral elections in England.
Across the country, 150 councils are electing new councillors, and there are six mayoral contests.
All the seats in all 32 London boroughs are being contested, as is every seat in the metropolitan districts of Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle.
A third of seats are up in 30 other metropolitan districts - including Liverpool, Sheffield, Sunderland and Wigan.
There are 67 district council elections - with some or all of the seats up for grabs.
There are also elections for 17 unitary authorities.
Polling stations opened at 07:00 BST and they will close at 22:00 BST.
This is where our election day rolling coverage will bepublished at 12:06 British Summer Time 26 March 2018
We'll be bringing you all the developments as millions of people go to the polls across much of England to elect their local councillors and in some cases their mayor in the 2018 elections. While waiting for all the excitement of polling day - 3 May - here's a link to our general politics page and here's a link to our guide to the elections.