Outcome may not become clear until late on Friday

THE general election outcome may still not be clear as dawn breaks over Britain on Friday.

Estimates published by the Press Association suggest more than 40% of constituencies could declare after 4am, with the counting process slowed by new Whitehall regulations aimed at checking for fraud, particularly on postal votes.

The busiest hour looks like being as late as between 3am and 4am, with nearly 200 results expected then.