UKIP will not be fielding any candidates in the Christchurch area at next month’s local elections – despite having seen the town as one of its most fertile areas.

All the seats on Dorset County Council will be up for election on May 4, in common with many authorities across the UK.

But while Christchurch was said to have the second largest Ukip membership in the country as of 2014, it is not fielding any candidates in the town. It has assembled a full slate of candidates in neighbouring East Dorset.

Robin Grey, who fought Christchurch for Ukip at the 2015 general election, said: “It’s a bit disappointing. We’re a little bit short of people who are willing to stand because a lot of our members are not really fit enough to go through the rigours of an election process and function as a councillor.

"Although we had a full slate last time, we’re pretty thin on the ground at the moment."

Mr Grey, who is standing for the county council in the East Dorset division of Moors, said: “We lost some members after the referendum, but we’re still probably if not the second highest, somewhere up there."

Ukip opened an office in Christchurch in 2014 and talked up its chances of snatching seats from the Conservatives.

Christchurch elected its first Ukip borough councillor in 2015 and voted by 58.8 per cent to leave the EU at last year’s referendum. But at a by-election to the borough council last month, the party saw its vote drop by 21 per cent in the Mudeford and Friars Cliff Ward.

The Liberal Democrats are not fielding a candidate in three of Christchurch’s electoral divisions, although Labour is standing in them all.

Dorset County Council last held full elections in May 2013, when Ukip gained its first councillor in Dorset. The Conservatives won 27 seats, the Liberal Democrats 12 and Labour five.

Ukip later lost its Ferndown seat at a byelection, while the Lib Dems picked up a seat and the Greens gained one at Labour’s expense.

The current council has 45 seats, but a subsequent boundary review means there will be 46 up for election in May.

Applications to register for a vote must be submitted to the relevant district council by the end of Thursday, April 13. Details are at gov.uk/register-to-vote

Applications for a postal vote are due by 5pm on Tuesday, April 18, and applications for proxy votes by 5pm on Tuesday, April 25, although exceptions can be made for unforeseen illness or incapacity until polling day.

More details of the process are at dorsetforyou.gov.uk/elections and a list of candidates in local divisions is at bournemouthecho.co.uk