Centre-right gains ground in EU vote

ATHENS (Reuters) - Europe's centre-right parties gained ground at the expense of the left in a European Parliament election ending on Sunday, EU-wide exit polls collated by a Greek survey group showed.

Centre-right parties won 39.5 percent of the vote compared to 36.6 percent in 2004, securing 291 of the European assembly's 736 seats, pollster Kapa Research estimated.

The polls showed the European Socialist Group taking 26.0 percent of the vote, down from 27.6 percent five years ago. The European Parliament is not due to release its own projection of the result until around 9:45 p.m. EDT.

(Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Writing by Mark John)