IN a bad night for Labour, Dudley Council is no longer under their complete control after losing four seats at the 2016 local elections.

The party needed to come out of the evening with 37 of the 72 seats to keep its overall majority to lead the council.

However, losing the seats saw Labour only managing to hold onto 35, meaning they would need to either form a coalition with another party, or fear Conservatives team up with UKIP.

When Labour Councillor Pete Lowe, leader of Dudley Council, was asked whether the party will form a coalition, he said: “We will continue to put forward the Dudley Labour vision, and the vision that is in the interest of the people of Dudley.

“It will be up to the other parties how they react to that.”

Elsewhere this evening, Conservatives gained four seats, including taking Belle Vale and Gornal from Labour, while UKIP gained Wordsley – also from Labour.

But the main talking point of the evening was Conservative taking Wollaston & Stourbridge Town from Labour in a vote that included four recounts and the Tories taking the seat by only a three vote margin.

Paul Brothwood, leader of Dudley’s UKIP group, said he was delighted with how the evening turned out for his party, with Kerry Lewis taking the Wordsley seat by 121 votes.

He said: “The work Kerry Lewis has done has reaped the rewards. Kerry has worked so hard for so many years for the people of Wordsley and now she will be a UKIP councillor for them.”

Cllr Brothwood was less than forthright about whether his party will become part of a coalition council, saying: "We will continue to work together, that is what a community council is all about.

“Hopefully with Labour not having overall control, we will get access to certain information which was previously blocked so we can help with better scrutiny.”