Cheshire East residents who went to the polls 11 days ago should finally learn tonight who will be running the council for the next four years.

The Independents – who lost the most seats during the recent local elections in Cheshire East – will be the final decision makers.

Neither the Conservatives, who won 33 seats, nor Labour with 31, secured enough to win outright control of the council.

The Independents won 16, and 14 of those councillors joined the Independent group.

It is those 14 who are voting today to decide whether they wish to work with Labour or the Tories over the next four years.

Cllr Craig Browne (Picture Cheshire East Council)

Independent group leader Craig Browne, pictured above, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service shortly after 4pm today: "The Independent group has now received proposals from both Labour and Conservative groups. These were discussed at a meeting of the Independent group on Saturday and assessed against our priorities for the next four years.

"The group is currently voting and I expect to announce the results of that vote later this evening."