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SECTION INDEX

AS IT HAPPENED: EU referendum counts in Windsor & Maidenhead, Slough, Wokingham and South Bucks

Staff reporter

AS IT HAPPENED: EU referendum counts in Windsor & Maidenhead, Slough, Wokingham and South Bucks

Welcome to our live coverage of the EU referendum count and results.

Today the country has gone to the polls to vote on whether Britain should remain in the European Union, or whether a Brexit is best.

Editor Martin Trepte, assistant editor Nicola Hine, reporters James Harrison and Grace Witherden and photographer Matthew Phillips are at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead count. Reporter James Hockaday is at the Slough count.

You can follow us on Twitter: @MaidenheadAds, @ExpressSeries, @martintrepte, @nicola_hine, @matthew_photos, @JamesHarrisonBM, @GraceW_BM and @JamesHockadayBM.

We'll bring you updates as we get them.

5.40am

The local results have all been announced and the counting centres have cleared. That's all from our live blog for today. Check back on our websites later for updates and reaction once Britain's EU referendum decision has been confirmed. 

Thanks to all of you who have followed our coverage.

 

 

5.30am

Here's Windsor MP Adam Afriyie's response to the news:

 

 

5.05am

Reacting to the news, Royal Borough leader Simon Dudley said: "It was aways going to be very difficult for leave to win in Windsor and Maidenhead, but it is a testament to the two fantastic MPs and it shows they have done a fantastic job. So it's actually excellent residents voted to remain even though the country voted to leave.

Laura Binnie from Windsor Labour said: "I think it's a good result for Windsor and Maidenhead. I always thought it would be a stay in in the whole country but it doesn't look like it's that way. The country seems very divided and I think there is going to be a lot of repercussions."

Matt Bezzant, chairman of Berkshire Stronger In, said: "I'm delighted with how we've done here in Berkshire. We've done well in Reading if not so well in Slough. It's been a very disappointing night nationally."

Peter Newbound, agent for the Liberal Democrats, said: "I'm very pleased with the result in Windsor and Maidenhead. I think it's also significant that the majority of voters wanted to remain which is quite opposed to the majority of councillors."

Graham Lee, from Maidenhead Labour party, said he was delighted with the result in Maidenhead and put it down to teamwork in the remain campaign. He said: "All the parties worked together. We had Labour, Theresa May, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens all working together for this result and we are very proud of it."

Turning to the national picture he said: "People just do not realise what the consequences are. It's going to be a long time before we really know but the country has spoken. It's a sad day for Britain but at least we can hold up our heads here."

5.01am

RESULT: The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has voted REMAIN.

44,086 votes compared to 37,706 for leave.

Maidenhead MP and Home Secretary Theresa May had backed the remain campaign.

Windsor MP Adam Afriyie, on the other hand, backed Brexit.

You can read their reasons here.

Despite this it is looking very much like Britain has voted to LEAVE the EU...

4.45am

RESULT: Wokingham voted REMAIN. 55,272 votes compared to 42,229 for leave.

4.19am

RESULT: Wycombe has voted REMAIN. 49,261, compared to 45,529 for leave.

Nearby West Berkshire has also voted REMAIN. 93,345 with 48,300 for remain and 44,977 for leave.

3.50am

RESULT: Slough has also voted to LEAVE.

3.40am

Sounds like we're close to another result...

3.30am

Here's a bit of an update from the Royal Borough count from James...

3.25am

We had the result of yesterday's Royal Borough by-election earlier. You can read more about that here.

3.20am

For those people who think we're Maidstone, not Maidenhead, Maidstone voted to LEAVE. 52,365 votes compared to 36,762 for remain. Turnout of 76%.

Maidenhead...it's still not in Kent.

3.15am

Another neighbour of ours, Runnymede, has voted to LEAVE. There were 24,035 votes, compared to 20,259 for remain. Turnout was 76%.

3am

Another stat, this time from Grace...

2.55am

The #dogsatpollingstations took a different turn in the Royal Borough as campaigners against the sale of puppies from puppy farms being sold at pet shops protested at eight polling stations.

The group protested at Cox Green polling station and outside Maidenhead Town Hall today with dogs Dudley, Ziggy and Jeff. They also held protets in Wokingham borough.

Yonni Wilson, from the protest group said: "Dudley the border terrier, Jeff the French bulldog and Ziggy the lurcher were happy to tour the referendum polling booths in Maidenhead and Wokingham boroughs - taking part in the Twitter campaigns #dogsatpollingstations and #WheresMum. Highlighting the awful plight of puppies stuck in pet shops and their mums, stuck in puppy farms."

"Campaigners are urging Wokingham borough council and the RBWM council to take action, to amend the boroughs' pet shop licenses ad prohbit the sale of puppies and kittens in pet shops."

2.40am

RESULT: South Bucks has voted LEAVE. 20,647 votes, compared to 20,077 for remain. Turnout was 78%.

Not technically on patch for us but our next door neighbour, Bracknell has voted LEAVE - 53.94% compared to 46.06% for remain. Turnout 76.07%.

2.35am

The turnout for Wycombe was 75.74%. There were 94,869 ballot papers verified out of a possible 125,260 eligible voters.

2.10am

We have a turnout figure for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead - 79.7%. There were 81,865 votes cast. Not quite the 80% the council was aiming for.

2.05am

Counting is underway in Wokingham borough. The turnout there was 80.03% - 97,551 votes cast.

As far as we know Wycombe is still verifying, much like Windsor and Maidenhead.

1.25am

(If you'd rather follow Lindsay Lohan's live coverage of the EU referendum we completely understand.)

1.20am

Slough Youth Parliament member Hamzah Ahmed, 18, is at the count.

Click here to read what he had to say about the referendum recently.

Slough Youth Parliament chairman Hamzah Ahmed was pleased with turnout in the borough and the number of young voters pic.twitter.com/u2CXWOBsTr

— James Hockaday (@JamesHockadayBM) June 24, 2016

1.05am

We've just been told the last two boxes are being verified here at the Windsor and Maidenhead count. They'll need to check in with HQ in Southampton and then they can announce the turnout and start counting. Not expecting a result before 5am.

1am

We have a turnout for Slough...

00.50am

Riverside resident Trevor Tilbury is our oldest counter tonight at 79. He has been counting elections since the 1980s.

He said: "The first count I took part in was at Beconsfield in the 1980s when Tony Blair lost his deposit, I've always been interested in elections."

Trevor is one of the orginial members of Maidenhead Lions Club and also voted in the Referendum in 1975, however he says he can't remember which way he voted.

00.45am

Thanks Grace's mum...

00.40am

More on those counters...

Melissa Nyambayo from Dedworth is the youngest counter tonight at 17 years old. She works as a library assistant and found out about getting involved after receiving an email from the Royal Borough.

She said: "A lot of young people think that there is no point in voting but there is. It's good to still have a role in the referendum and I have friends that are 18 that have voted and are volunteering in polling stations.

"It's been interesting counting tonight, it's a bit weird knowing that what I count will decide the future of the country."

Although Melissa didn't practice any counting ahead of the vote she has studied maths at The Abbey School in Reading and hopes to go to Durham University in September to study Spanish and Italian.

00.20am

Grace has asked the ages of the youngest and oldest counters here at the Magnet. The youngest is Melissa, aged 17. She's not old enough to vote in the referendum! The oldest is Trevor, who is 79.

00.05am

In February the Advertiser carried out an online poll on the EU. There was just a single vote in it, with Brexit coming out on top. There were 832 votes cast - 47.5% said we should leave and 47.4% said we should stay. 5.1% were undecided.

Almost exactly one year previously, the same poll found 53% of people favoured staying in, 44% voted leave and the rest were undecided.

11.30pm

The last Royal Borough ballot box has arrived *cheers*. It's from Wraysbury.

11.20pm

At an hour in to the verification process, 78 out of the 83 ballot boxes for Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead had arrived here at the Magnet. Slough had all 49 of its ballot boxes.

There are 72 counters here in Maidenhead, plus an extra six for the by-election that was held today. That's for a Royal Borough seat in Sunninghill and South Ascot, vacated by Cllr George Bathurst.

10.50pm

Here's an election stat from James over in Slough:

10.45pm

Matthew is busy taking photos...

10.40pm

Apologies for the delay in updating the blog - minor wi-fi teething problems here at the Magnet (if you've followed our election live blogs in the past you'll know this is not unusual).

The first ballot box to arrive here at the Magnet came in from Holy Trinity in Cookham.

A number of Royal Borough councillors are here including former council leader David Burbage, and councillors Colin Rayner, Jack Rankin and David Evans.

The first ballot boxes have also arrived at the Montem Leisure Centre in Slough, and at Loddon Valley Leisure Centre for Wokingham and Wycombe Leisure Centre for Bucks.

10pm

That's it - 10pm and the polls have closed. The British public has had its say, but what will the outcome be? Remain, or Brexit?

We'll let you know when the ballot boxes start arriving at the counting centres. 

9.55pm

James is at a polling station in Furze Platt, Maidenhead where the last few people are casting their votes before the 10pm deadline.

9.40pm

Welcome to our EU referendum live blog! With 20 minutes to go until the polls close, we're getting ready to bring you all the latest news from the counts in Windsor & Maidenhead, Slough, South Bucks and Wokingham as we get it. We're in for a long night...

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