LIBERAL Democrats celebrated a double victory as they won two town council seats from the ruling Labour group.

Rebekah Fairhurst and Bernadette Eckersley-Fallon were elected to Westhoughton Town Council to represent the Daisy Hill and Wingates wards respectively – a double gain for the Lib Dems.

Cllr Fairhurst won 534 votes, followed by Conservative and Unionist Derek Bullock, 184, Labour’s Anna-Marie Watters on 119, UKIP’s Martin Tighe on 70, Independent Michael Wood on 31 and the Greens' James Tomkinson with 10.

Cllr Fairhurst said: "Daisy Hill has long been forgotten by Labour, while Westhoughton has been used as a cash cow for Bolton.

"People want to feel like their representatives are proud of Westhoughton. I want the town to succeed and for it to be able to stand on its own two feet."

Cllr Eckersley-Fallon won 241 votes, with Labour’s Patrick Brennan on 63, Conservative and Unionist Martyn Cox on 86, Independent Anita Jackson-Baratinsky on 42 and Green candidate Isabella Rylance on 16.

She said: "I am shocked. Just a few weeks ago I was your average resident like anyone else and now, here I am, representing the people of Wingates.

"People like me were fed up with the ways things are and I hope I can offer a strong voice for our area."

The seat had been vacated by former Labour town councillor Barbara Dodds, who resigned her seat on December 8.

The former councillor for Daisy Hill was Cllr Thomas Brennan.

Cllr David Wilkinson, leader of the Westhoughton Lib Dems, said: “I think we have two very good hard working councillors who have been elected.

“This is a win for the Lib Dems, but it also says a lot about the Labour Party and the issues around Asons and the spatial framework."

He said that although Labour still controls the town council, with 10 elected members, the Lib Dems would continue to chip away.