The Rugby Borough Council elections could be one of most significant in the area.

The Labour Party currently holds 21 seats and needs just three more to take overall control of the council.

No single party has enjoyed overall control since 1990 and but Labour only have to hold on to their nine wards which are up for election, and steal one each from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and independents.

But they could find a sizeable protest against the new Council Tax rate which rose at four times the rate of inflation.

Matt Dicks, who is covering the election for the Rugby Advertiser, thinks the tax rise could be the major issue.

He said:

"It is really hard to read ahead of the election but certainly the Council Tax aroused a lot of emotion and we had a lot of letters coming into the paper about that. It rose by 7.8 per cent.

"Labour have the majority by nine seats but need three more for overall control and that will be their aim.

"In past elections there has been an agreement between the Conservatives and independents who have not put up candidates against each other in certain wards. But they fell out over the redrawing of boundaries so that has now gone out of the window.

"I have not experienced a great deal of interest in the elections and there is a lot of apathy."

One face certain to be missing after the vote is Eric Smith, who has been an Independent Ratepayer councillor in Ryton-on-Dunsmore for over 20 years.

Dicks added:

"He is nearly in his 80s and has been a fixture on the council for many years. People who have worked on the paper for a longer time than I have, say what an ebullient character he was, so he is bound to be missed."