Labour lead in the Watford Parliamentary race according to an early poll - but Mayor Dorothy Thornhill is favourite with a bookmaker.

Labour was two percent clear of the Conservatives, with the Liberal Democrats a further two back in the poll, which asked 1,001 residents which Watford parliamentary candidate they would vote for in May.

The poll was conducted by Lord Ashcroft - who described Watford as a "three horse race" - in August before Mayor Dorothy Thornhill was given the Lib Dem nod. She has been installed as favourite with Ladbrokes.

But in a separate quiz that asked which party residents would vote for if there was an election tomorrow, Labour (31) were marginally ahead of the Tories (30) with UKIP (18) overtaking the Lib Dems (16).

Labour candidate Matt Turmaine said: "It’s going to be a straight forward two horse race between Labour and Conservative.

"From our point of view it’s good news. It’s going to be a tight fight between us and the Conservatives.

"For 100 years Watford has had either a Labour or a Conservative MP and I don’t think it will be changing any time soon."

Watford MP Richard Harrington, who was trailing in third place six months before the last election, said he "took no notice" of opinion polls as it is just a small sample of a constituency of 80,000 people.

Mayor Thornhill said: "The poll was before I was made candidate and immediately after he was nominated, the odds shortened considerably to put us marginally ahead. 

"So however Labour and the Tories want to play this, they cannot pretend we are not in the game.

"They will want to say that but this is an electorate that knows the people and the situation.

"I am heartened by the odds and the polling results to believe that we are more than in with a strong chance in May."

Click here to view the polling data: http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Watford-Full-tables-Sept-14.pdf