Oxfordshire goes to the polls this week with the control of four district councils at stake.

On Thursday, seats on West Oxfordshire, South Oxfordshire, Vale and Cherwell councils are up for grabs, which in many cases features a straight fight between the Tories and Lib Dems.

Oxford City Council is unaffected by this electoral cycle and will elect half its 48 councillors next year, while Oxfordshire County Council's next scheduled elections are in 2009.

While a third of councillors on Cherwell and West Oxfordshire councils are up for election, the whole of South Oxfordshire and Vale councils face the ballot.

One of the controversial entries on ballot papers is that of British National Party candidate Richard Hamilton, who is standing in the Tory stronghold of Henley South.

Mr Hamilton of Flackwell Heath is standing for one of two seats.

Meanwhile, the UK Independence Party is challenging three seats in Banbury, while the district's only independent candidate is David Chapman, 70, a former Conservative who is protesting about plans for a controversial housing development on the edge of Bicester.

One of the most keenly-fought battles will be for seats in the Vale where the council has been run by the Liberal Democrats since 1995. They have a 10-seat majority.

Former leader Paul Bizzell, elected in 1995, is not seeking re-election along with the Tories' longest-serving councillor Elsa Boyce, who is standing down after 20 years.