Shropshire local elections 2013: Tories retain control

The Conservatives have retained control of Shropshire Council.

The party claimed 48 of the 74 seats with its majority cut by just three seats.

All wards were up for election on the unitary authority, which has been controlled by the Tories since it was created in 2009.

The Bagley ward in Shrewsbury was one of the closest results, with the Conservatives winning it from the Liberal Democrats by just eight votes.

BBC Shropshire political reporter Liz Roberts said the Conservatives always looked to be fairly comfortable, despite losing the Monkmoor seat to Labour early on.

Council leader Keith Barrow said he was "delighted" by the result and that the local party had "bucked the national trend".

"Our manifesto set out a clear plan of what we're planning to do for the next four years and I see that we've been given an endorsement," he said.

No other single party had fielded enough candidates to claim an overall majority, although Shropshire County Council had been through many years of no overall control before the Conservatives took power in the run up to it becoming a unitary authority.

In Bridgnorth, the Conservatives also successfully held off a challenge from UKIP.

All the party group leaders retained their seats with comfortable majorities.

The biggest casualty was cabinet member Martin Taylor Smith who lost his Ludlow South seat to the Lib Democrats.

The Conservatives won 48 seats, Liberal Democrats 12 and Labour nine. Five independents also claimed seats.

Counts across the country are expected to be declared by 18:00 BST.