Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are set for decisive wins in the crucial presidential primary in the US state of Florida.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio dropped out of the Republican race after Mr Trump took 45% of the votes with nearly 75% of the results reported in the state.

Meanwhile Clinton has 65% with her challenger Bernie Sanders on 33%.

She is also projected to win in North Carolina and Ohio. Republican hopeful John Kasich is expected to win Ohio.

Polls have also closed in Illinois and Missouri.

Rubio took to the stage in Miami to congratulate Mr Trump on his win on Rubio's home turf.

Announcing he was suspending his campaign, he said the US was in the middle of a "political storm", and voters were angry and frustrated.

Florida and Ohio are particularly important in the race for the Republican nomination because the winning candidate gets all of the delegates on offer - 99 in Florida and 66 in Ohio.

Those delegates go to the national convention in July where the presidential nominee will be chosen.

For the Democratic nomination, Florida offers the greatest number of delegates - to be distributed proportionally - with 246. Meanwhile Illinois offers 156 delegates and Ohio 143.

Opinion polls had given Mrs Clinton a comfortable lead over her rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, especially in Florida and North Carolina. But Mr Sanders appeared to be gaining ground in the three other states.

Sanders pulled off a major political upset with his win in Michigan a week ago.

(BBC)