Voters in places like Bampton, Shillingford and Petton and Clayhanger have been heading to the polls to cast their vote in the Tiverton and Honiton by-election.

Among the early arrivals at St Michael’s Community hall in Bampton was Neil Carder, a self-employed gardener getting in his vote before heading to work.

David Leader was another early voter. He said: “I always vote and a by election is just as important as any other. Everybody should take every opportunity they get to vote.”

There are 103 polling stations across a vast area stretching down to the south Devon coast.

Voting was brisk at Bampton, but it was rather quieter at the Shillingford and Petton Victory Hall in a more rural location in this northern end of the constituency.

In all there are eight candidates on the ballot. The by-election follows the forced resignation of former Conservative MP Neil Parish. He held the seat at the 2019 General Election with a majority of 24,239.