THE Conservatives missed out on gaining control of Northumberland County Council after the final seat came down to the drawing of straws.

The Tories replaced Labour as the largest group, but after two recounts, South Blyth ward was tied.

The returning officer was then forced to decide the election by the drawing of straws, with the Liberal Democrat candidate Lesley Rickerby picking the right one to defeat Tory Daniel Carr.

This finally brought to an end a nail-biting ten-hour wait for the candidates.

Ms Rickerby called the experience "very traumatic" and said she was in no rush to repeat what had happened.

"It's unbelievable that when you consider we have a democratic service that we end up having to draw straws," she said.

"It was very traumatic and I certainly would have preferred it to be a majority, but the way our system works, after a couple of recounts, we had no choice.

"The returning officer decides if we would flip a coin or draw straws and he went with straws.

"I felt if I did it I was choosing my own destiny but I cannot deny it was very traumatic.

"When you enjoy doing something like representing people I would have been very disappointed to lose it that way.

"I'm certainly don't want to do that again in a hurry, it really was the last straw."

The Conservatives won 33 seats, but the combination of Labour, Lib Dems and Independents denied them a controlling majority. Labour ended up with 24, the Lib Dems three and Independents seven.