CONGLETON Liberal Democrats were celebrating this week after a dramatic bye-election victory in a Labour stronghold.

The Labour Party had held the Congleton and Buglawton seat on Cheshire County Council for many years.

However that ended on Thursday when Liberal Democrat Carol Hinckley won the seat for her party for the first time.

Mrs Hinckley polled 880 votes, 59 ahead of Labour challenger Stan Snowdon, who was hoping to retain a Labour seat which became vacant following the death of county councillor Bruce Millington.

Mr Snowdon polled 821 votes, with Conservative John Pollard in third with 419, with only one in five voters turning out to make their choice, the turnout being 21.7 per cent.

"It is an absolutely brilliant result for the Liberal Democrats," said Linda Short, the leader of both the local party and the borough council.

"We won because of all the hard work Liberal Democrats have been doing in the Congleton area, and despite the low turnout those people who voted used their votes positively.

"Carol is also very well known, and a lot of work went into the bye-election campaign."

Mrs Hinckley was a borough councillor from 1986 to 1990, a town councillor between 1982 and 1991, and Congleton Town Mayor in 1990.

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