The last ballot boxes from the far flung corners of the Devizes constituency arrived at Devizes Corn Exchange at 11.10pm.

This is a good 20 minutes earlier than five years ago and bodes well for a result before the 5.30am that candidates and helpers had to endure in 2005.

Dame Elizabeth Neville, High Sheriff of Wiltshire, dropped in briefly to see how things are going. She is taking up her prerogative, as Returning Officer for the County, of announcing the result, whenever that comes.

But the donkey work of organising the count is being done by the Acting Returning Officer, Mark Boden, who has been hard at work making sure that all is working smoothly.

Those on the campaign trail have been reporting the effects of the three TV debates between the party leaders.

Noel Woolrych, who has been campaigning for the Devizes Labour Party, said: "Even the kids are talking about it, although they tend to concentrate on what the party leaders looked like.

"But it is encouraging that young people are engaging in the political process. If we got a higher turnout this election would be a good indication of the political landscape of this country."