Rome's centre-right and centre-left candidates are neck and neck in exit polls as voting stops in the capital.

The first exit polls in the race for Rome's next mayor suggest a likely run-off between Roberto Gualtieri (centre-left) and Enrico Michetti (centre-right) as voting stopped at 15.00 on Monday afternoon.

The first Opinio Italia exit poll for state broadcaster RAI gives Michetti a 27-31 per cent share of the vote, followed closely by Gualtieri on 26.5-30.5 per cent.

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The poll puts Azione leader Carlo Calenda (civic list) and incumbent mayor Virginia Raggi of the populist Movimento 5 Stelle on 16.5 - 20.5 per cent each. Other candidates are on between 5 and 7 per cent.

Another exit poll, Quorum / Youtrend data for Sky TG24, puts Gualtieri in the lead on 26-30 per cent, with Michetti between 24-28 per cent. This exit poll puts Calenda and Raggi on between 18 and 22 per cent.

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To be elected mayor in the first round, a candidate must get more than 50 per cent of the vote, otherwise the two highest-polling candidates will head into a run-off 'ballottaggio' on 17-18 October.

In addition to Rome, local elections were held over the last two days in more than 1,100 towns and cities in Italy, including Milan where the incumbent centre-left mayor Beppe Sala is expected to win.

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