Greeks vote in new snap elections

Athens: Citizens of Greece are going to the polls to elect a new parliament, with the centre-right opposition mounting a strong challenge to the leftist government.

The New Democracy party of Kyriakos Mitsotakis is hoping to end more than four years of rule by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's Syriza party.

Tsipras called snap elections soon after suffering an electoral defeat in May's European elections.

Polling stations opened at 07.00 local time.

This is Greece's sixth election since the global financial crisis in 2008.

The crisis triggered a succession of financial bailouts, with the Greek economy shrinking by 28 per cent between 2008 and 2016, and increasing unemployment has thrown many Greeks into poverty.