THEY were making a bid to net the support of first-time voters - and Eastleigh's parliamentary candidates should get an inkling of how successful they were at least 24 hours ahead of Thursday's general election poll.

Students at Eastleigh's Barton Peveril College were casting their campus votes last Friday after grilling Conor Burns (Conservative), Chris Huhne (Liberal Democrat), Christopher Murphy (UKIP) and Chris Watt (Labour).

Voting will also be taking place today before the college announces how the candidates fared in its mock election.

All four candidates were given a five-minute manifesto timeslot to outline what they stood for, and they then fielded questions from students and staff on subjects ranging from university tuition fees and transport to making poverty history.

The event was mainly aimed at the college's second year students, the majority of whom are eligible to vote in the general election, but all students with an interest in politics were invited to go along.