FORMER Tory leader William Hague last night claimed that the Conservatives were "back in business" after election successes in northern England.

Mr Hague said victories in Chester and South Ribble were the start of a "Conservative revival".

He said: "These elections show that the Conservative party is back in business in the North.

"We have taken control of Chester and South Ribble and made significant advances in Bury, Crewe and Nantwich, Preston, Sunderland, Barrow and many others.

"And we are on course to have control of more councils than Labour in the North-west.

"This is the beginning of the Conservative revival in the north of England."

Chester had been seen as a "must-win" city if David Cameron's party was to demonstrate it was gaining ground on Labour in the North.

They upped their share of wards in the city by seven to 33 to wrest control of the previously hung council.

But a Labour Party spokesman rejected the claims of a Tory revival.

He said: "To claim any sort of breakthrough, the Tories would have to be winning councils like Barrow-in-Furness, Bolton or Bury in the North West which they have completely failed to do."

Yesterday's elections were the biggest test of electoral opinion since Mr Blair lead Labour to a third term in office in the 2005 general election.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell needed some sign of progress to reassure internal party critics that he is the man to take them into the next General Election.

Strategists argued that he could not expect big gains, as many of the seats up for grabs were last contested at a high point for the Lib Dems in 2003.

However, a victory for the Liberal Democrats in John Prescott's own backyard provided the first notable result.

Sir Menzies hailed the "tremendous" feat of taking control of Hull Council.

l An 18-year-old has become Britain's youngest councillor after winning a seat yesterday.

William Lloyd was able to stand for the Conservatives in Brentwood, Essex, after the minimum age for candidates was lowered from 21 to 18.

He is studying for his A-levels.