THE turnout for the recent local elections may have been poor - but Eastleigh's latest secret ballot is going down a storm.

Pop art is set to triumph in a competition being staged by Eastleigh Museum in High Street and the votes have already been rolling in.

A record number of 133 paintings have been entered for this year's open art competition exhibition which has attracted subjects ranging from landscapes to floral studies and animal portraits.

The exhibition was open to both professional and amateur artists living within a ten-mile radius of Eastleigh and will be on display until June 14.

Museum curator Alan Johnston said: "Visitors to the gallery will be the judges. Each visitor will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite picture and the winner will receive a gift token for artist materials. We estimate we already have more than 200 votes in and the exhibition has only been going for a week, so that is quite substantial. It is causing a lot of interest.

"It is an exhibition which has been running for several years and it is always popular. However, this year we extended the range for exhibitors from a five-mile radius to a ten-mile radius of Eastleigh."