Fifteen different political parties have put up a total of 77 candidates for next month's European elections.

Voters will go to the polls to elect who will represent the East of England region in the European Parliament on Thursday, June 4.

The nominations were released today, and show 15 separate parties have put forward nominations for the region.

Along with the three major parties, the Green Party has candidates standing, along with the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the far-right British National Party (BNP), which has put forward seven candidates.

The Animals Count party has three candidates standing, while the Christian Party, the English Democrats Party, No2EU:Yes2Democracy and Libertas are also standing.

The little known Jury Team, the Socialist Labour Party, United Kingdom First and an independent candidate make up the numbers.

The region will return seven MEPs, with members elected via the proportional representation system.

Each party can put forward seven nominations, with seats in the European Parliament then allocated in proportion to the number of votes each party receives.

The East of England comprises of Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk and is currently represented by three Conservative MEPs, two from UKIP and one member each from Labour and the Lib Dems.