The polls have closed and now the waiting begins.

Long lines of tellers are sitting at their tables at Sevenoaks Leisure Centre ready to sift through the ballots that will determine the area's new MP.

Their first task will be tally up the total number of votes received from each polling station and check it with the record of votes cast to make sure there is no discrepancy.

The ballot papers have been collected from each polling station and will be brought to the Buckhurst Lane venue.

The candidates are Amelie Boleyn (Green), Alan Bullion (Lib Dem), Christopher Clark (Labour), Michael Fallon (Conservative) and Steve Lindsay (Ukip).

While nothing is ever certain, it would take a major upset to unseat Michael Fallon, who has been Sevenoaks' MP since 1997 and has served the government as secretary of stage for defence.

The result is expected at around 4am tomorrow.