IT would take a political earthquake to prise power from the grasp of Eastleigh Council's ruling Liberal Democrats.

In last year's ballot box battle they stormed home with one of their biggest triumphs as they picked off two Tory scalps to gain a record number of council chamber seats.

The state of the parties is 33 Liberal Democrats, seven Conservatives, three Labour and one Independent Liberal Democrat.

This time round there are contests in 14 of the 19 wards but the opposition parties will be pulling out all the stops to halt the Lib Dem bandwagon.

Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats, who are proud of their record in keeping the council tax below inflation, aim to strengthen their vice-like grip on the council chamber.

It is difficult to say which burning issues will be in the minds of Eastleigh voters when they go to the polls on Thursday.

Allotments Last year passions continued to rage over plans to plant homes on the town's allotment sites. But this did not make any major inroads into denting the ruling Eastleigh Liberal Democrat's sizeable majority.

But there could be other issues that may sway the Eastleigh electorate as the candidates make their last foray on to the doorsteps in search of those all-important votes.

In terms of its future growth Eastleigh is now at a crossroads. It can no longer call itself a railway town and is desperately in need of a new identity. The closure of the Alstom railway maintenance works left a huge gap in the town's industrial landscape.

Many feel that the manufacturing meltdown, which included the loss of the town's famous Mr Kipling cake factory and the running-down of the Pirelli cable works, has also cast a shadow over its shopping streets.

Stark statistics have revealed that Eastleigh is in danger of dropping off the shopping map. It is languishing near the bottom of the south-east's league table of retail centres, which is topped by Southampton.

Eastleigh lies in 39th place and is even trailing behind Winchester and Fareham.

Opposition councillors and some shopkeepers have been getting impatient over plans for a blockbusting cinema/leisure development which has been waiting in the wings.

It is seen as the big carrot to tempt major investors into the town and to lift Eastleigh out of the shopping relegation zone.

The Liberal Democrats have promised to deliver the leisure package as part of a town centre action plan. This could also be in the mind of voters as they cast their votes.

Tied in with this is a massive blueprint for jobs which has been unveiled as part of the South Hampshire Strategic Employment Zone Area Action Plan.

It is planned to breathe new life into vast tracks of industrial wasteland, including the redundant Alstom works.

Up to now much of Eastleigh borough's new housing has been built on brownfield sites. One of the election issues could be the growing concern of development in back gardens and the need to protect greenfield sites.

Infill housing development has, says some opposition councillors, clogged up roads in the town and caused other infrastructure problems.

Infrastructure In the Netley area parish council chiefs have called for a halt to the massive growth of flats which are threatening to change the character and social infrastructure of the village.

While in Chandler's Ford political horns have been locked over plans to bulldoze pensioners' bungalows in a controversial redevelopment of the Velmore Estate area.

Adding intrigue to the Eastleigh election battle is the fact that some key figures will be fighting to keep their places in the council chamber.

The mayor Councillor Peter Wall and the deputy mayor Councillor Roger Smith are both seeking re-election. Veteran councillor and former mayor Bernie Wright will be one of the missing faces from the council chamber when the new term begins. He will not be fighting to keep his seat.

Another long-serving councillor, George Fraser, who was chairman of the Hedge End local area committee, is also not seeking re-election.

The UK Independence Party is contesting all the borough's 14 wards. They also probably have the youngest and oldest council candidates in Hampshire.

Fred Estall, the 85-year-old who hit the headlines when he became a council tax rebel, is contesting Hedge End St Johns. He believes that the needs of the elderly are being ignored by politicians.

At the other end of the generation scale, 19-year-old Simon Young is fighting the UKIP corner in the Hedge End Grange Park ward. One of his issues is how rising prices are making it difficult for young people to get on the property ladder.