Italians are going to the polls in two days of local elections seen as a test for the new coalition government, BBC News reported.

The focus is on the Rome mayoral vote, where PM Enrico Letta's centre-left is fighting ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PfL) party.

The PfL incumbent, Gianni Alemanno, is trailing Democratic Party (PD) candidate Ignazio Marino in the polls.

Elsewhere, 565 local authorities, including Ancona, Brescia, Pisa and Siena, are also holding elections.

The results are expected to show the relative popularities of the PfL and PD after they decided to form a grand coalition government to end two months of post-general election deadlock.

Beppe Grillo's anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) which attracted a quarter of the vote in February's general election, did not back the coalition.

He is hoping to consolidate his claim to be Italy's biggest political force.