Election results will be delayed in Hertfordshire this year after officials advised ballot boxes should stay closed for 24 hours in a bid to prevent any spread of Covid-19.

Voters across the county will go to the polls on Thursday May 6 to elect their county councillor, borough or district councillor in some places, as well as a police and crime commissioner.

But due to the pandemic, safety precautions are being put in place once all of the votes have been cast.

A count delay of at least 24 hours is designed to reduce any possible transmission of the virus from the handling of ballot papers – or from any aerosol particles that could be generated from the tipping out of large quantities of ballot papers.

Watford, Three Rivers and Hertsmere councils are among nine out of the ten in Hertfordshire to delay the process, with counting not beginning until Saturday May 8 - officials in Broxbourne have opted to start counting sooner - on the Friday - following advice from the Electoral Commission.

That advice suggests it is not necessary to quarantine papers like Hertfordshire County Council has advised, so long as other measures, such as hand-sanitising, face masks, and one-way systems are in place.

Elsewhere in Hertfordshire, election officials have decided to wait.

In Watford, ballots for the county council elections will be counted on Saturday, with results expected by the afternoon. Borough election votes will also be counted on the Saturday.

Watford Borough Council says the decision to delaying the counting reflects the risk associated with the handling of paper.

To make the counts Covid-safe, officials say there will be fewer people counting, with more spacing than usual, as well as other measures.

In Three Rivers, votes for the county council will be counted on Saturday, and the district council on Sunday.

In Hertsmere, county council votes will be counted on Saturday, followed by the votes of two by-elections in the borough, three parish council by-elections, and the neighbourhood plans for Radlett and Shenley.

Any counts not finalised on Saturday will be completed on Monday.

See more: List of council election candidates for Watford & Three Rivers

See more: List of all the candidates standing to be a county councillor in Watford, Three Rivers, and Hertsmere

All votes cast for the Hertfordshire police and crime commissioner will be verified and counted on Monday May 10.

Hertfordshire's director of public health, Jim McManus, said: "The guide covers everything from risk assessment to counting and the emphasis is on ensuring people can vote and count safely.

"The multi-agency group which wrote the guidance reviewed the evidence and took advice.

"From our perspective, we also looked at what other elections did and will continue to review the evidence.

"Our continued question is whether tipping out large quantities of ballot papers from boxes can generate aerosols."