THE Tories swept to a comprehensive victory in the first unitary council elections in Wiltshire.

The party took 62 of the 98 seats available, with the Liberal Democrats trailing in their wake at 24. Independents took seven, a group called the Devizes Guardians won three, but Labour could only manage two.

In North Wiltshire established Conservative county and district councillors John Thomson, Carole Soden, and Toby Sturgis all won comfortably.

But community activist Simon Killane, who stood for the Lib Dems, won a five way contest for the Malmesbury seat in the election that saw former district councillors Rachel Miles and Ray Sanderson lose out.

Voting in Cricklade was close, with Lib Dem Peter Colmer beating Independent Bob Jones by just 13 votes. Conservative Tony Clements was only 44 behind Mrs Jones.

Turnout was 43 percent, a total of 147,887 votes were cast and 1,208 spoiled.

The Malmesbury and Cricklade area results were: Cricklade:- Peter Colmer (LD) 637, Bob Jones (Ind) 621, Tony Clements (Con) 577.

Malmesbury:- Simon Killane (LD) 823, Rachel Miles (Con) 549, Ray Sanderson (Ind) 227), Bill Blake (UKIP) 162 and Fred Price (Lab) 44.

Minety:- Carole Soden (Con) 1464, Russell Dabson (LD) 402, Pauline Smith (Lab) 73.

Sherston:- John Thomson (Con) 1299, Ian Ashby (LD) 470, Susan Ford (Lab) 77.