THE Harrogate district of North Yorkshire goes to the polls tomorrow to decide who takes control of a new-look council.

Every seat on the borough council is up for grabs - and the Conservatives will be hoping reorganisation proves a catalyst for a return to power.

The Liberal Democrats have held sway in the former Tory stronghold since the early 1990s.

The party then went on to clinch the Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency in the 1997 General Election, when former council leader and Leeds headmaster Phil Willis defeated former Chancellor Norman Lamont.

But despite another defeat in last year's General Election, the Conservatives have been claiming a grassroots recovery and will be aiming to claim more seats on the local authority to narrow the Liberal Democrats' majority.

A number of independents are also standing this year, while Labour will be hoping to improve on the single seat the party holds in the council chamber at the moment.

The boundary of almost every ward has been redrawn, the overall number increasing from 32 to 34, while the number of seats has come down from 59 to 54.