Dudley Council officers face a mammoth task to complete the biggest election count in decades which will run into the Bank Holiday weekend.

All of the authority’s 72 seats are up for election in 2024 following a ward boundary review plus elections for the West Midlands mayor and West Midlands police and crime commissioner.

Polling stations were open until 10pm last night for people to cast up to three votes for councillors in their ward plus the mayor and PCC.

The first phase of the counting process began as soon as ballot boxes arrived at the Crystal Leisure Centre, when all ballot papers, including postal votes, were be verified to ensure every ballot paper issued has arrived at the count.

Usually Dudley elects a third of its councillors at one time and counts votes overnight but due to the size of the 2024 election, counting will take place today.

Results will be declared throughout the day for each of the council’s 24 wards and counting will continue into the afternoon with final results expected at around 5pm.

There may be delays to declarations if results are close and recounts are required, meaning the final make-up of the council may not be known until well into the evening.

Votes for the mayoral and crime commissioner elections in the Dudley area will be counted on Saturday May 4 from 9am. Counting for these region-wide elections will also be taking place in Birmingham, Coventry, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

Once results for each area have been declared locally they will be sent to the overall returning officer for each election and a final result will be announced.