UKIP candidate for Newton Abbot, Rod Peers, has said his party could drive the Liberal Democrats into third place.

The seat was won for the Conservatives in 2010 by Anne Marie Morris who,with 20,774 votes saw off Richard Younger-Ross, in effect the outgoing MP, by a little more than 500 votes.

But just minutes after voting ended in the 2015 contest Mr Peers said he felt could make huge inroads taking his party's share of the vote way beyond the 3,088 they polled last time.

'We're very confident, we've had a good day,' he said. 'I've visited 21 polling stations around the constituency and the response has been very good. 'We'll have to wait for the final count but we're fairly confident. I would be very pleased if we came second and I think that's entirely possible.'

Moments after Mr Peers spoke his party took second place behind the Tories in Sunderland, the first seat to declare. The Lib Dems came last with two per cent of the vote.