THERE are 83 candidates standing for 50 seats in elections to Sedgefield Borough Council next month.

For the first time ever the elections are being conducted by postal ballot. Forms must be returned to the council by May 1 and the count will take place later the same day.

The council currently consists of 42 Labour members, three Liberal Democrats and four Independents. Boundary changes will create an extra seat. The candidates are as follows:

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 Timmiss (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).