Reporting from the regions

BBC correspondents will be reporting live from local elections counts as they happen around the country on Thursday evening.

But some of the battles being fought out are more important than others. Click on the links below to read about some of the key areas that the parties are targeting.

On election night itself, come back to this page where you will find live audio reports on the outcome of the battle from the BBC's team around England.

Phil Mackie reports from Birmingham where Labour has most to lose in a city rocked by the threatened closure of Rover's Longbridge plant.

Click here for his report

Chris Hogg reports from Southend on Sea where the Tories will be looking for evidence of a revival in their fortunes.

Click here for his report

Tim Hammond reports on why Labour's long-held fortress in Nottingham is coming under attack from the Conservatives after they suffered a devastating defeat at the polls three years ago.

Click here for his report

Kevin Bocquet reports on why the Liberal Democrats hope that Oldham voters will have had enough of Labour to swing the council decisively in their direction.

Click here for his report

Allan Robb reports that this once Tory certainty in the heart of the West Midlands is again at the top of William Hague's target list of a dozen councils his party hopes to win.

Click here for his report

Jane O'Brien reports from Torbay, where the Tories are hoping to overturns a slim Liberal Democrat majority.

Click here for her report

Christine Stewart reports on how control of Eastbourne is on a political knife-edge with power balanced between the Liberal Democrats and the Conseravatives.

Click here for her report.

Doug Morris reports from Sunderland, which recorded one of the lowest turnouts in the last council elections.

Click here for his report.