RESIDENTS of Darlington go to the polls by post for the first time in this year's local government elections.

Dozens of hopeful candidates are seeking election to the borough council - and will know their fate when the count is made at the Dolphin Centre on May 1.

More than 76,000 ballot papers have been sent out to those eligible to have their say in a pilot scheme trialling postal voting.

There are 53 seats being contested, with the authority currently made up of 35 Labour, 15 Conservative and two Liberal Democrat councillors. One extra seat has been created by boundary changes.

DARLINGTON BOROUGH COUNCIL ELECTION

Bank Top Ward (two seats): Simon Charles Cawte (Con); Douglas Hardy (Ind); Stanley William Johnson (Con); Harry Marrs (BNP); Stella Robson (Lab); John Williams (Lab).

Central Ward (two seats): Raymond Cumming Flowers (Lab); Isobel Hartley (Lab); James Alan Moore (Con); David Lancelot Reed (Con).

College Ward (two seats): Ian William Barnes (Lib Dem); Sheila Janet Dunstone (Lib Dem); Valerie Pringle (Lab); Edward Anthony Richmond (Con); Carl Joseph Robinson (Lab); Philip Stamford-Bewlay (Con).

Cockerton East Ward (three seats): Paul James Baldwin (Lab); Donald Frederic Bristow (Lab); William Iain Lippett (Con); Bryan Edward Stapley (Con); Elizabeth Sugden (Con); Bryan Thistlethwaite (Lab).

Cockerton West Ward (two seats): Andrew David Bowers (Con); Robert Bruce Bowman (BNP); Clifford Giles Hutchinson (Lab); Eric Anthony Wilson (Lab).

Eastbourne Ward (three seats): William Gene Dixon (Lab); Colin Douglas Fairman (Ind); Roderick Francis (Lab); Janet May Mazurk (Con); Doreen Jane Tucker (Con); Lee Vasey (Lab).

Faverdale Ward (one vacancy): John Barrie Armstrong (Con); John Flook (Lab).

Harrowgate Hill Ward (three seats): Trevor Hugh Agnew (BNP); Francis John Elliott (Con); Stephen James Fenwick (Lib Dem); Anne Elizabeth Harrison (Con); Elizabeth Temby Hart (Lab); John Joseph Hoodless (Ind); Tina Jones (Lib Dem); Angela Beatrice McPherson (Lib Dem); Marjorie Roberts (Con); John Christopher Vasey (Lab); Emma Louise Vasey-Smith (Lab).

Haughton East Ward (two seats): Hilda Daisy Allinson (Con); Christopher Paul McEwan (Lab); Geoffrey Brian Walker (Lab).

Haughton North Ward (two seats): Veronica Copeland (Lab); Thomas Nutt (Lab); Felicity Power (Con); Roger William Power (Con).

Haughton West Ward (three seats): Carol Anne Lambird (Ind); David Aloysious Lyonette (Lab); Nigel Andrew Nevison (BNP); Andrew John Scott (Lab); Leslie William Smith (Con); Nicholas Victor Wallis (Lab); Terence Wilkinson (Con).

Heighington and Coniscliffe Ward (two seats): Elaine Hope (Lab); Gerald Garfield Lee (Con); Eric Roberts (Con); Sandra Thorne-Wallis (Lab).

Hummersknott Ward (two seats): Sheila Mary Brown (Con); Jennifer Chapman (Lab), Charles Vincent Johnson (Con), Daniel John Taylor (Lab).

Hurworth Ward (two seats): William Henry Roderick Burtt (Con); Peter Foster (Con); Amanda McEwan (Lab); Bal Krishan Shukla (Lab).

Lascelles Ward (two seats): Jacqueline Mary Maddison (Lab); Margaret Anne Martin (Con); Wendy Newall (Lab); Douglas Tingate (Con).

Lingfield Ward (two seats): Paul Anthony Evans (Con); Ian George Haszeldine (Lab); Frank Sutherland Robson (Lab); Graham Smurthwaite (Con).

Middleton St. George Ward (two seats): Doris Mary Jones (Con); William George Maybrey (Con); Elizabeth Helen Muggleton (Lab); Rebecca Mary Taylor (Lab).

Mowden Ward (two seats): Margaret Bristow (Lab); Ronald Lewis (Con); Jacqueline Saint (Lab); James William Stenson (Con).

Northgate Ward (two seats): Kenneth John Vert Brown (Con); Eleanor Jane Lister (Lab); Dorothy Claire Long (Lab); Ian Storey (Con); Paul Thompson (BNP).

North Road Ward (three seats): Debra Anne Barley (Con); Jennifer Mary Hardy (Con); William Albert Holmes (Lab); Edward Jenkinson (Lab); Stephen John Jones (Lib Dem); Mark Kilpatrick (BNP); Frederick Lawton (Lib Dem); Michael Robert Nicholson (Lab); Susan Walker (Lib Dem).

Park East Ward (three seats): Barbara Ann Bone (Con); Malcolm Dunstone (Lib Dem); Peter Frietag (Lib Dem); Cynthia Lynn Beaver Hughes (Lab) Edward Ignacy Kielb (Lib Dem); Jonathan Mark Lyonette (Lab); Brian Parkinson (Con); Glen David Reynolds (Lab).

Park West Ward (two seats): Daniel Charles Klein (Lab); James Austin Ruck (Con); Heather Irene Scott (Con); Alison Cameron Wright (Lab).

Pierremont Ward (three seats): Michael John Barker (Lib Dem); Patricia Chapman (Con); Brian Keith Fiske (Lib Dem); Stephen James Harker (Lab); Patrick Heaney (Lab); Jonathan Matthew Scott (Con); Wayne Simpson (BNP); Joanna Kimberley Summers (Con); Marian Swift (Lab); Colin Smith Telfer (Lib Dem).

Sadberge and Whessoe Ward (one vacancy): Ian Black (Lab); Brian Jones (Con).

RESIDENTS of Sedgefield will also be making their mark - again by post in next month's elections.

Dozens of candidates are seeking election to the borough council and it is hoped that all the results will be in by the end of play on May 1.

There are 83 candidates standing for 50 seats in the Sedgefield borough.

The authority is currently made up of 42 Labour, three Liberal Democrat and four Independent. One extra seat has been created by the boundary changes.

Postal vote forms must be returned to the borough council by May 1

The British National Party is to test the political water in the county by fielding candidates in Sedgefield.

SEDGEFIELD BOROUGH COUNCIL

Bishop Middleham and Cornforth (two seats): No contest, Alan Hodgson (Lab); Maria Predki (Lab).

Broom (three seats): Brian Gibson (Soc Lab); Brian Meek (Lab); George Morgan (Lab); David Anthony Newell (Lab).

Byerley (two seats): John Christian Bowman (Lab); Vernon Chapman (Lab); Gareth Micheal Robinson Howe (Lib Dem); James Garry Huntington (Lib Dem).

Chilton (three seats): no contest, Brian Francis Avery (Lab); Thomas Frank Forrest (Lab); Christine Potts (Lab).

Ferryhill (three seats): no contest, Kathleen Conroy (Lab); James Eric Higgin (Lab); Ronald Alfred Patchett (Lab).

Fishburn and Old Trimdon (three seats): no contest, John Burton (Lab); Kester Noble (Lab); Terence Ward (Lab).

Low Spennymoor and Tudhoe Grange (three seats): Andrew Gray (Lab); John Mohamad Khan (Lab); Andrew Roxby (Lib Dem); Andrew Smith (Lab).

Middlestone (three seats): Alexander Ross Hawkes (Lab); Christine Kennedy (Lab); Christine Sproat (Lib Dem); Kevin Thompson (Lib Dem); William Waters (Lab).

Greenfield Middridge (three seats): Kevin Cox (Ind); June Croft (Ind); Vincent Crosby (Lab); Brian Hall (Lab); Terence Paylor (Ind); Gloria Wills (Lab).

Neville and Simpasture (three seats): William Maurice Blenkinsopp (Lab); John Patrick Moran (Lab); John Kane Piggott (Lab); Justin Spencer Thornton (BNP).

New Trimdon and Trimdon Grange (one seat): no contest, Lucy Hovvels (Lab).

Sedgefield (three seats): David Ralph Brown (Con); Linda Elizabeth Byrne (Lab); John Robinson (Lab); Maxine Robinson (Lab); Patricia Margaret Waller (Con); James Wayman (Ind).

Shafto St Marys (three seats): Lileen Margaret Griffin Cuthbertson (Ind); David Dobson (Ind); Angela Mildred Fleming (Lab); Robert Stuart Fleming (Lab); Malcolm Iveson (Lab); Alison Palmer (Ind).

Spennymoor (three seats): Martin Thomas Brian Jones (Lib Dem); Anne Denize Mumford (Lab); Benjamin May (also known as Ben) Ord (Lib Dem); John Parkin (Lab); John Edward Plews (Lab); George William Scott (Lib Dem).

Sunnydale (two seats): Ina Smith (Ind); Lorraine Smith (Ind); Allan Walker (Lab); James Brian Younghusband (Lab).

Thickley (two seats): David Michael Hancock (Ind); John Mayfors Smith (Ind); Brian Stephens (Lab); Janine Rebecca Thornton-Browne (BNP); Frank T immiss (Lab).

Tudhoe (two seats): Agnes Mary Armstrong (Lab); Marjorie Gordon (Lib Dem); Barbara Graham (Lab); Matthew Miller (Con).

West (three seats): Lynn Atkinson (Ind); Margaret Anita Teresa Crabtree (Ind); Michael Augustinus Dalton (Lab); George Coulson Gray (Lab); Maud Gray (Lab); Enid Marion Paylor (Ind).

Woodham (three seats): Malcolm John Cannings (Ind); Barbara Anne Clare (Lab); Geoffrey Nicholas Crass (Con); Alan Michael Gray (Lab); Sandra Haigh (Ind); Keith Henderson (Lab); Alison Jewkes (Ind).