IT was a good night for the Conservatives as they won three of the 14 seats up for grabs in Chester-le-Street.

Beaty Bainbridge won a seat in Chester-le-Street North East Division, and her husband Alan, a retired policeman, secured one of the two seats in Chester-le-Street South.

The other Conservative winner was Peter May, a business development manager for a medical company, who won in Pelton.

For Labour, the night was not as bad as some people had been predicting and the leader of Chester-le-Street District Council, Coun Simon Henig, said "We are delighted to win nine out of 14 seats, which is a clear majority.

"Whatever else is going on we still have a strong record locally."

It was a bad night for the Liberal Democrats who failed to win a single seat, they currently have one on Chester-le-Street District Council. Two Independents won, Alan Bell in Lumbey Division and Audrey Willis also in Lumley, where Durham county councillor Brian Walker failed to win a seat.