DON'T forget to head to the polling stations today and cast your vote for the region's very-first police and crime commissioner.
Voters living across the Humberside Police force area are being asked to select one of seven candidates who have spent months canvassing support for their policies.
The election comes as the newly-retired police divisional commander for North East Lincolnshire hit out at political parties for turning the countdown to the election into a party scrap.
David Hilditch, who retired from the Humberside Force in July after 30 years' service, said there was a danger the election will be dominated by party politics and turn the clock back 15 years.
Expanding on previous comments made in a First Person piece in the Grimsby Telegraph, Mr Hilditch, 55, said: "We have been warned to expect a low turnout in today's election for police and crime commissioner – and that would be a shame.
"The government's stated intention was to wrest power from the political elite and to put the people in charge of policing.
"Instead the election is in danger of being dominated by party politics which may have something to do with the expected low turnout. "
He added: "The Political with a big 'P' is nowhere more evident than in Hull with the likes of John Prescott and Tony Blair hitting the headlines. Have we gone back 15 years?
"The job of police and crime commissioner, whether you think this new role is a good idea or not, will be an important one and it should be about more than party politics and winning and losing.
"The person who is elected will choose the new chief constable for this area and hold him or her to account for the job he or she does. To do it properly will mean it is more than a full-time job and the commissioner will really have to know what he or she is doing."
Log on to www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk on Friday to see the results and pick up a copy of Saturday's paper for full coverage.
