The Liberal Democrats were “disappointed” after losing four seats.

Leader Cllr Ian Bond retained his Roding seat, as did Cllr Gwyneth Deakins, and Cllr Hugh Cleaver held on to Church End.

However, the party lost Shoaib Patel in Valentines ward and failed to keep three other seats.

Cllr Bond said: “We are obviously disappointed, particularly to lose Cllr Patel, who has made such an important contribution in the borough.

“It was obviously a very bad night for Lib Dems across the country.”

However, Cllr Bond added: “I think we did well to retain the confidence of our local voters; all three of us got the top per cent in our wards.

“I think it reflects the hard work Lib Dems put into the borough over the last four years, both in our wards and on the council.

“Many people in other parties, [particularly] members of the Conservative group, were predicting we wouldn’t have any councillors here and we have proved them wrong.

“We will continue working openly and we will provide constructive opposition to the Labour group.

“We have always been a small group, but we have always had an [impact] that is larger than our size.”