THE Liberal Democrats now control a huge chunk of the borough.

They took seven out of the 20 wards, including the newly created Crompton, Westhoughton North and Chew Moor, Westhoughton South and two Horwich wards.

They are also in control of Kearsley and Smithills.

Defeated Labour hung on to five wards, including the election battleground of Rumworth and the new Tonge with Haulgh ward. The Conservatives took four wards in the more prosperous areas of Astley Bridge, Bradshaw, Bromley Cross, Heaton and Lostock.

The remaining four wards are split between Labour and the Conservatives.

The Liberal Democrats scored their greatest victory in the Crompton ward, securing all three seats. In doing so, they ousted Labour leader Bob Howarth.

Victorious Iqbal Patel said: "It is sad that the council has lost someone of the stature of Bob Howarth but we are delighted to have done so well."

One of the shocks of the night was in Breightmet which the Tories had been confident of securing. John and Linda Byrne retained their Labour seats with the third seat going to the Conservatives' Richard Elliot.

But there was no place for Labour stalwart Donald Grime. He said: "I'm not happy, but the swing against Labour was not as bad as I thought it would have been."

Former mayor Cllr John Walsh, who represents Astley Bridge, was re-elected.

Paul Brierley, Tory councillor for Bradshaw, said: "I'm delighted that Bradshaw remains Conservative and that all three candidates were elected."

The Conservatives also swept the board in Heaton and Lostock, with councillors Bob Allen, Alan Rushton and Colin Shaw keeping their seats.

Lib Dem candidate Tanwir Taj Din, standing in the Tonge and Haulgh ward, received 292 votes despite being jailed for nine months for indecent assault last month. His conviction meant that even if he had won a seat, he could not have taken his place as a councillor.

The 28-year-old taxi driver was found guilty last month of assaulting a female passenger in August last year.

Husband and wife team Bob and Barbara Ronson kept their Horwich North-east seats and were joined by fellow Liberal Democrat Steve Rock.

The Liberal Democrats also took the Smithills ward with Roger Hayes, Richard Silvester and Carole Swarbrick taking the seats.

Derek Gradwell welcomed his return to the council for the Liberal Democrats a year after being ousted from the Hulton Park seat he had held since 1999.

He benefited from the boundary changes which created the new Westhoughton North and Chew Moor ward, which was dominated totally by the Lib Dems.

In Westhoughton South, three sitting Liberal Democrat councillors were returned including David Wilkinson.

"We worked hard, fought a very good campaign and got the result we deserved," he said.

There was more Liberal Democrat celebrations in Smithills where they swept the board, and for the party's Ian Hamilton in Horwich and Blackrod.

The veteran hopeful has been trying to get elected to Bolton Council for 21 years and has stood in 18 elections.

Labour held on to seats in Tonge with the Haulgh, with councillors Nick Peel, Elaine Sherrington and Frank White coming out on top.

The new Hulton ward was always going to be one of the toughest wards as some of Bolton's most popular councillors battled it out for a seat. The main casualty was Guy Harkin.

And it was Conservative all the way, as Labour's Paul Fitzpatrick was ousted. It is now a Tory stronghold.

Cllr Andy Morgan said: "We are thrilled that we have been selected and we are going to serve Hulton ward to the best of our ability. Guy Harkin has had his day. Now its our turn."

In Farnworth, the three sitting Labour councillors - Jim Lord, Noel Spencer and Raymond Stones - all comfortably regained their seats.

Cllr Margaret Clare also helped Labour gain a clean sweep of the three seats in Harper Green, with Cllr Larry Williamson and Cllr Carl Dennis grabbing the other two.

In Kearsley, the position remains the same with Liberal Democrats Cllr Bill Collison and husband and wife Cllrs John and Margaret Rothwell beating off the competition.

And there was no change in Little Lever, with sitting Labour councillors Maureen and Anthony Connell, along with Cllr Mary Woodward, all regaining their seats.

The Labour party also kept control in Halliwell with mayor Cliff Morris, Cllr Linda Thomas and Cllr Akhtar Zaman keeping their seats.

Labour MP David Crausby said: "It's not been the best of nights for us but it was expected."

Cllr White said: "The Labour government has put a lot of investment into East Bolton Regeneration, as well as in education, and I think people can see that."

"People have been fed up with the Labour administration for too long and now we can do what the people want us to do, rather than someone just doing what they think the people want.

We want to thank the voters for having faith in us and now it is up to us to show that we can serve them well. He said: "The results show that the Conservatives remain strong."