MARTYN Underhill is to serve a second term as Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner after claiming a decisive victory at the polling stations.

Mr Underhill, an Independent, launched his campaign for re-election in March of this year.

Also in the running were Andrew Graham for the Conservatives, Lester Taylor for UKIP and Patrick Canavan for Labour.

Voters in the election were able to pick their first and second choice of candidate.

After a first count at Poole Lighthouse this morning, both Mr Taylor - with 21,086 votes - and Mr Canavan - with 20,169 - were ruled out of the process.

A second count was then completed, after which it was declared that Mr Graham had claimed 44,548 votes.

Mr Underhill achieved 66,660.

He also won seven of the eight districts in Dorset, while Mr Graham received the highest number of votes in North Dorset.

Overall turnout was 22.54 per cent, with 129,461 verified votes and 9,477 rejected votes.

During the first police and crime commissioner election in 2012, only 96,149 valid ballots were cast in Dorset - a 16.3 per cent turnout.

Speaking after his victory, Mr Underhill, a former Detective Chief Inspector with Sussex Police, said: "I'm really pleased.

"To increase my majority is fantastic."

However, he criticised the government for failing to spend enough on the promotion of the elections.

"It was a shambles," he said.

The re-elected PCC said the "dynamic" of this year's vote was "very different".

"There's a candidate representing UKIP, so that's been one of the big shifts," he said.

"UKIP have fared well, as have Labour.

"It's been a different sort of process this time around, and despite the lack of promotion around the elections, more people turned out to vote.

"What I want to do is to continue with the progress we've made in the last four years."

Mr Underhill listed a range of priorities for his work as PCC.

He aims to reduce the number of victims of crime in the county, cut down on reoffending and increase satisfaction in policing.