The Lib Dems triumphed in the battle for control of Watford, seizing seven seats to maintain their grip on the borough council.

The Conservative Party lost all five of their seats – meaning they now have no councillors on Watford Borough Council.

Labour lost two seats - meaning they have 11 elected councillors, compared with 25 Lib Dems.

The result sparked jubilant scenes from the Lib Dems at Watford Colosseum, where the count and announcements took place today.

Watford Borough Council has 36 councillors and an elected mayor, each of whom is elected for a four year term to represent the people of Watford.

For the first time this year all the council’s seats were up for grabs as the ward boundaries were changed.

Liberal Democrat elected mayor Dorothy Thornhill was the only one not defending her seat as she will stay in her post until the Mayoral elections in 2018.

Speaking after the count, she said: “I have councillors who are prepared to work their butts off.

“They care about their communities. The Labour Party ran a campaign of scaremongering and people are not fooled by it.

“Talking about people’s hospital closing in the days before the election is disgraceful.

“If you want to lead a town, you have to be responsible. Frightening people about the most precious things like the NHS is not responsible.”

Candidates from Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, UKIP and the Greens were all involved in the battles for each ward.

Watford Observer:

Today's result.

The turnout for the vote was 36.71 per cent – which is 25,559 people who voted in Watford.

The ward with biggest turnout was Park ward – which had a 47.63 per cent turnout.

Labour electoral agent Mike Jackson said members were both “disappointed and satisfied” at the results.

He said: “Obviously we are disappointed to lose two seats at such a small margin.

“But we very much still have a presence, in comparison to the Tories – who were totally wiped out.

“The Lib Dem result is not too much of a shock, the party has targeted Watford to take more seats.

“We will now be the only party holding the Lib Dems to account at the Town Hall – starting from Monday.”

Labour lost their two seats by a narrow margin. In Central ward, the party missed out on a seat by 71 votes and in Callowland, they missed out by 32 votes.

The Conservatives lost their seats in Nascot, Park, Tudor, Woodside and the Meriden wards – with all going to the Lib Dems.

Speaking after the result, Binita Mehta said: “I’m obviously really disappointed. We have worked really hard for the residents and not made it about party politics.

“We will continue to keep working hard across the whole of Watford, as we have and work towards making future gains."

Asked what went wrong after last year's successful election, she added: “It is not unusual to see a surge during a General Election. But this time around, people have not been thinking about local issues as much.”

During the count, the Green Party accused the Lib Dems of being a "disgrace", after they started celebrating before official results had been announced (below).

The results of the hotly contested seat in Park ward had not officially been confirmed when Lib Dems started cheering.

Ms Mehta eventually lost her seat in the ward.

According to Mr Jackson, the Lib Dems' electoral agent was reprimanded by ERO after breach of secrecy rules.

Elsewhere, David Lloyd was re-elected as Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner after a second count after failing to secure a majority in the first round.