LABOUR kept control of Bolton Council after a fierce by-election battle in Daubhill on Thursday night.

Their candidate Paul Fitzpatrick polled 96 votes more than his closest rival, maintaining the party's one seat majority in the council chamber.

He had 721 votes, while Liberal Democrat Linden Greensitt had 625 and Conservative Yakub Jiva had 587.

Following his victory, 55-year-old father-of-three Mr Fitzpatrick said: "I'm very relieved. It's been a difficult time of year to fight an election, but we put a lot of work into our campaign to ensure victory."

The election, which followed the death of Labour councillor Dennis Barlow, was marred by accusations that the Tories had played a race card to win votes.

Senior Labour councillors had claimed the Conservatives had ignored political issues by selecting a candidate who would appeal to Daubhill's large Asian community.

Labour leader Bob Howarth said last night: "I am delighted with tonight's result. Daubhill continues to be represented by three Labour councillors, despite the Conservatives' ploy of selecting a surprise candidate."

He added: "The Conservatives need to look carefully at what they are doing now. This was no way to conduct a political battle." Deputy Labour leader Guy Harkin, who represents the Daubhill ward as a councillor, said: "The Asian community has been conned into voting for an Asian candidate. It's very sad. It's a card that ought not to have been played."

But the claims were denied by senior Conservatives after the party came third in the voting battle last night.

They also shared the other parties' concern that just 1,939 of registered voters, 21.4 percent of the electorate visited the polling stations. Conservative leader Alan Rushton said: "We chose the best candidate we had and he fought a very good campaign. Democracy won at the end of the day, although it would have been nicer to have a higher turnout." The party's 53-year-old candidate, father-of-three Mr Jiva, said: "Political parties accuse each other of all sorts of things during elections, but it doesn't matter at the end of the day."

"We worked very hard at our campaign and we couldn't have done any better."

The Liberal Democrats, who came second in the voting, claimed their own victory after the result was announced.

They said their increased number of votes, up 197 on the May 2002 elections, came because their candidate had "put his heart and soul" into his campaign.

Liberal Democrat leader Barbara Ronson said: "Linden is a young candidate but we think he is going to go a long way. He will be back to fight for this seat during the next election."

Candidate Linden Greensitt, aged 33, said: "We did very well compared to last time and we will make it difficult for Labour to keep hold of this seat in May."

Labour candidate Paul Fitzpatrick, who represented the Bradshaw ward on Bolton Council between 1995 and 1999, celebrated his victory last night with his wife Lynne and his three children Ryan, Carrie and Liam.

The late Cllr Barlow won the seat in 1997 with a majority of 1,402 votes. The Conservatives polled 332 and the Liberal Democrats 182.

RESULT:

Paul Fitzpatrick (Lab) 721

Linden Greensitt (Lib Dem) 625

Yakub Jiva (Con) 587

Majority: 134

Percentage vote: 21.4

LABOUR HOLD