Voting has opened for the Comedy.co.uk Awards 2016.

Run by British Comedy Guide, the awards, which are now in their eleventh year, aim to name the best British TV and radio programmes of the previous 12 months.

Unlike other awards, every programme is automatically included in the Comedy.co.uk Awards longlist and put to the public to vote on. This means that 346 different shows are eligible to win prizes this year.

British Comedy Guide's editors say: "Every year the Comedy.co.uk Awards grow in scale, and we are expecting hundreds of thousands of votes to be cast by fans over the next fortnight to allow us to confidently name what the best TV and radio comedy programmes from the previous 12 months were. This is a unique chance for audiences to have their say on the broadcast comedy landscape. We look forward to seeing which shows comedy fans decide should form this year's shortlist."

The award winners will be decided upon purely by the public vote, with no jury, weighting, or other interference. The comedies that receive the greatest number of voting points in each category will make up a shortlist, which will itself be open to a second public vote from next Monday (16th January). This final round of voting will determine the ultimate winner in each award category, with the overall results due to be announced on Monday 23rd January.

The British Comedy Awards are not currently running, making the Comedy.co.uk Awards one of the only chances for British comedy programmes and those who create and star in them to be celebrated.

The Comedy.co.uk Awards have been running since 2006. Previous winners of the coveted Comedy Of The Year title include Peep Show, The Thick Of It, Horrible Histories, Miranda, Would I Lie To You? and Cabin Pressure. Last year Peter Kay's Car Share gained the most votes. Previous results in full