The Liberal Democrats have returned to the city council after a four-year absence following a by-election victory in Claines.

Liberal Democrat candidate Mel Allcott, who has stood in Claines at the last six elections, topped the poll with 1,307 votes - 56 votes ahead of the Conservatives.

The by-election was held following the death of Conservative councillor Stuart Denlegh-Maxwell in June.

The victory for the Liberal Democrats means Worcester City Council now has 16 Conservative councillors, Labour has 15 councillors, the Green Party has three councillors and Cllr Allcott is the sole Lib Dem representative.

Mel Allcott said she was "absolutely delighted and very pleased" with the victory in Claines which came on the back of hard work by the Liberal Democrats locally and nationally.

She said: "We have worked really hard on this campaign and have worked prior to the campaign.

"I think behind all this it shows that people are not happy with Boris [Johnson] or Jeremy [Corbyn] and it has been an opportunity to indicate that. We're just in a very good place. Membership is up, we have a new leader, we've just won a by-election in Brecon and we are very positive about the future.

"One of the key priorities now as a councillor is the planning application for a new McDonald's in Perdiswell. There's also the South Worcestershire Development Plan which is under review.

"I want to make sure that only sensible areas are included in it and we protect the green areas in Claines."

Juliet Benham finished second for the Conservatives with 1,251 votes and Stephen Dent came in third for the Green Party with 125 votes. Labour's Saiful Islam was unsuccessful for a third time in Claines attracting just 60 votes.

The result leaves the Conservatives with 16 councillors, Labour with 15, the Green Party with three and Cllr Allcott as the Lib Dem's sole representative.

Turnout in Claines on Thursday, August 8 was 42.74 per cent.