A UK election official with a ballot box

Polling stations have opened in the United Kingdom, where millions of people have begun casting their votes in the general election. About 50 million people were registered to vote.

Polls opened at 07:00 BST at around 50,000 polling stations across the UK, which will remain open until 22:00. But people on the queue before the deadline will be allowed to vote.

A total of 650 Westminster MPs will be elected and there are more than 10,000 council seats being contested across 279 English local authorities.

Mayors will also be elected in Bedford, Copeland, Leicester, Mansfield, Middlesbrough and Torbay.

Excluding London where there are no local elections – voters will be given at least two ballot papers when they enter polling stations.

Some votes had been cast before Thursday through postal voting, which accounted for 15% of the total electorate at the 2010 general election, when the overall turnout was 65%.

Thousands of votes will also be cast online, with some registered voters indicating the preference.

Ed Miliband, Labour leader, along with wife, heads to polling booth to cast his vote

Labour leader Ed Miliband voted along with wife Justine in Doncaster and UKIP leader Nigel Farage has also cast his vote in Ramsgate, Thanet South, both men followed by around a dozen photographers each.

There are 3,971 candidates vying to take up a seat in the House of Commons.

There are 533 parliamentary constituencies in England, 59 in Scotland, 40 in Wales and 18 in Northern Ireland.

The parties are therefore trying to get 326 seats to command a majority.

The election climaxed six weeks of frenetic campaign by the major parties and candidates and despite all efforts, the two main parties are deadlocked in opinion polls.

Three separate surveys have both Labour and Conservatives tied.

At a rally in Leeds, Labour leader Ed Milliband said the country could not afford five more years of the Conservatives in government.

David Cameron, rounding off a 36 hour campaign across many constituencies appealed for more time to build a better Britain.