The Conservatives managed to defend their Bushey North, Bushey South and Watling seats on Hertfordshire County Council last night.

However the UK Independence Party surged into second place in their time of contesting the divisions.

While the UKIP candidates managed to come in second across all three divisions, neither the Bushey North nor the Bushey South party candidates made an appearance at the count.

Speaking after the results were announced, Councillor Seamus Quilty said: "I think I was fairly confident during our campaign. It was a very clean election and there were no issues - I was always confident things would go our way."

The Labour candidate for Bushey South, David Bearfield, said he has come second a few times over the years, but to come third is a sign of the times as UKIP is growing in popularity.

Mr Bearfield said: "I've come second a few times, but tonight I came third and that's because of the rise of UKIP - not just locally, but in parliamentary politics also.

"It remains to be seen if it's just a one-off protest vote for people or if it will become a permanent and long-term presence in the local political scene."

The UKIP candidate for the Watling division, Will Ferry, said he thinks tonight's count and the high number of votes for his party shows just how far they have come. 

Mr Ferry added: "I think people are becoming disillusioned with the main political parties and I also think there's an element of protest.

"The results so far just goes to show how far we've come and what a strong presence we're becoming in local politics."