An historic night in Telford & Wrekin saw the Conservatives win the most seats on the council. The Tories gained 10 seats at the expense of Labour and the Independent group.

They now have 25 councillors. Labour has 19 -a reduction of six; the Independent group, four – a reduction of four; Liberal Democrats three – a drop of two; and the Telford & Wrekin People’s Association gaining two extra councillors to make its total three.

The overall turnout of voters from across the borough was 47,418 (40.14 per cent).

No single party has overall control of the authority but Tory leader Andrew Eade said they would now be looking to form a minority administration as the Labour group had done for the last four years.

To have control of the council the Conservatives would need to form a coalition with another group but Mr Eade said no deals had been struck and he would consider all options.

Keith Austin, leader of the Labour party and former leader of the council, said it was a “sad day” for the group because they had “given a lot” to the town during their 35 years of control.

He said: “I sincerely hope that the Conservatives will continue with more of the policies that we have set in train, including Vision 2026 and the final phase taking Telford’s population from 160,000 to 225,000.

“That will happen irrespective of what they want to do because English Partnerships own 85 per cent of the disposable land in Telford.

“I hope the new administration will want to spread that and if they don’t they will just make life difficult for the people in the town.”

Mr Austin said he hoped the Conservatives would continue to keep the council tax the lowest in Shropshire.

Vic Tonks, leader of Telford & Wrekin People’s Association, was overwhelmed after three candidates attracted more than 3,000 votes to take all three seats in the Dawley Magna ward.

He said: “We put in nine candidates and none of them have been disgraced. But this result is the icing on the cake. This is the people power showing through without a doubt.

“Hopefully we will be able to have quite an input into the council.”

But Mr Tonks refuted any claims his group would form a coalition with any other party.

Gary Davies, leader of the Independent group, said: “I am disappointed that we have lost members of the group but I am sure that we will bounce back. We are not here to prop up any administration of the council. We will help anybody who does work for the community.”

Returning officer and chief executive of Telford & Wrekin Council, Steve Wellings, said: “The elections were successfully completed thanks to the tireless efforts of the council’s staff and partners.

“We would in particular recognise the efforts of the count hosts Telford College of Arts and Technology who have provided an excellent venue, the Royal Mail and our local printers Impact who have worked incredibly hard over the past few weeks to ensure all the paper work was produced accurately and to time.”