Tories make gains but miss out on Nottinghamshire majority

Conservative leader Kay Cutts, pictured with Theresa May last month, said the result was down to hard work

The Conservatives have fallen three seats short of taking overall control of Nottinghamshire County Council.

The Tories picked up 31 seats - ten more than in 2013, but three short of the 34 needed for a majority.

Labour won 23 seats, nine down on four years ago, and the Liberal Democrats finished with one seat - down from four in 2013.

Eleven seats went to independent candidates and there were no wins for UKIP or the Green Party.

Election 2017: Full results from across England

Conservative leader Kay Cutts said: "We have been running a long campaign. We've worked very hard in our communities as well.

"It's not just something you do in the last six weeks - it's something you do over several years and we're starting to bear fruits from that work."

Analysis: Peter Saull, BBC Radio Nottingham political reporter

A look around the room at the count tells you everything you need to know. Plenty of men and women wearing blue rosettes smiling and congratulating each other while there's not a red rosette to be seen.

The collapse of the UKIP vote has undoubtedly helped the Tories, as has the success of independent groups, taking Labour votes in their traditional heartlands of Ashfield and Mansfield.

Support for Labour did however hold up well in Gedling, which is the Tories' number one target seat in Nottinghamshire for the general election.

The total number of seats in Nottinghamshire went from 67 to 66 because of boundary changes and most of the 56 divisions have also changed in name, size or both since the last election.