 Luke Smith was the youngest member of Burnley Council |
Voters were due to go to the polls in Burnley on Thursday after the resignation of a British National Party (BNP) councillor. The by-election in the Lanehead ward comes after Luke Smith resigned in August.
Mr Smith, 21, became the youngest member of the council when he was elected in May this year.
However, he was forced to leave after an alleged fracas during the BNP's "Red, White and Blue" festival in Sawley.
This is the second by-election in the town since May's local elections and is being contested by all the main parties.
Labour currently has a majority of one seat on the local authority.
The polling stations are due to open at 0800 BST and will close at 2100 BST.
The successful candidate will serve until May 2007, which is when the retired councillor's term of office would have ended.
There are five candidates in total:
John Cave - BNP, Paul Coates - Conservative, Julie Cooper - Labour, Ann Royal - Independent, Martin Smith - Lib Dem. 
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