VOTERS in Hartlepool are being urged to watch out for the arrival of their polling card for the forthcoming elections for the town's MP and mayor.

The polling card will be hand-delivered to the home of every registered voter in the borough before Monday, in time for the election on May 5.

It will arrive in an envelope that will also contain an election address booklet featuring important information about the mayoral election arrangements, plus an election address from each of the mayoral candidates.

Each voter will receive one polling card, which will cover both the parliamentary and the mayoral election.

The card will give the name and location of the polling station that the person should attend, on May 5, to cast their vote in both elections.

"Some of the locations of the polling stations are different from last time," said deputy returning officer Christine Armstrong.

"So it's important that people read the instructions on their polling card very carefully and keep the card in a safe place until election day."

Residents who have opted to vote by post should disregard the polling card.

Instead, they should look out for the postal voting pack, which will be sent separately by post early next week.

On election day, the polling stations will be open between 7am and 10pm.