THE last East Hampshire ballot boxes holding votes in the in or out EU referendum have been validated, and now the serious counting of votes has begun.

One surprise is the few thousand more postal voted that arrived at 11.30pm at the Festival Hall in Petersfield with the last ballot boxes from Lasham near Alton.

Now the total of postal votes received stands at 15,417 – 17,164 were sent out.

This said East Hampshire District Council chief officer Sandy Hopkins, is a 90 per cent vote rate.

And as results from across the UK start coming in, the handful of Remain in the EU campaigners in the Festival Hall are starting to look edgy, staring at the big TV screen, hoping the leave slight lead will start growing.

The larger number of UKIP and Leave the EU supporters there, also watching the TV intently, appear slightly more relaxed.