Labour and the Tories both suffered a Euro election setback last night as voters deserted them in favour of the LibDems and the UK Independence Party.

In the North-East, Labour MEP Barbara "Mo" O'Toole lost her seat to Liberal Democrat Fiona Hall, a former nuclear activist and currently press officer for Berwick MP Alan Beith.

Labour received 266,057 votes, the Tories 144,969 and the Lib Dems 138,791.

But the real surprise was the big gains made by the UK Independence Party in the region which scooped 94,887 votes to give itself a 12.2 per cent share.

Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats each won a seat in the North-East.

Labour senior MEP Stephen Hughes, who was elected for the fifth time, said the results and the party's poor show in the local council elections last Thursday would be a wake-up call for Downing Street.

He admitted: "It is very clear that we have an awful lot of work to do to win any referendum on a European constitution."

Ms O'Toole, who was elected in 1999, said it was too soon to say what she planned to do now. However, she said: "It is my sincere hope that the party will learn from this election - and the council election last week - and come back stronger than ever at the General Election."

The North-East vote was another surprise victory for the Liberal Democrats.

Coming hot on the heels of last week's council election victory in Newcastle - when Labour lost its grip on power for the first time in 30 years - Ms Hall said the party now had a real chance of taking on Tony Blair at the General Election.

"I think this will send another warning that the Liberal Democrats are now a genuine threat to Labour in this region.

"At the General Election I am confident we can translate these results into Parliamentary votes."

Conservative MEP Martin Callanhan acknowledged that his support had suffered as voters switched allegiance to the UK Independence Party.

"Despite that I believe our vote has held up well," he said.

The result was a big success for the UK Independence Party and the British National Party, which garnered 50,249 votes.

The Green Party only managed to poll 37,247 votes and Respect, the anti-war coalition fronted by journalist Yvonne Ridley, received only 8,633 - just over one per cent of the overall North-East vote.

In London, Labour's vote share fell by ten per cent and the Tories fell by six per cent as minor parties made big gains.

The UK Independence Party won its first MEP in the capital with 12.3 per cent of the vote with the Greens getting 8.4 per cent.

Labour had been braced for more bad news after Thursday's grim showing in the local council elections but the Tories will be bitterly disappointed with their poor showing.

As a result, Tory leader Michael Howard will be under more pressure to adopt a more Euro-sceptic stance in future - something that risks reopening old party wounds on Europe.

Voting to select the UK's 78 MEPs took place on Thursday, although other European countries have held their polls on Sunday.

As with the council elections the North-East pioneered a postal vote.

Officials said the response from voters had been encouraging.