LANCASTER City Council leader Tricia Heath has lost her seat to one of Labour's youngest candidates, 23-year-old Rebekah Gerrard.

The Morecambe Bay Independent, who was standing again for Poulton ward, was one of the major casualties of the night, but she told the Citizen she had "half expected it".

During the count, which ran until 3am, Cllr Heath - fifth favourite for the ward out of eight candidates said: "I did my best. I am not upset I half expected it; I had a feeling this morning. But I shall continue to support the rest of the group."

But she admitted: "I am disappointed after all the hard work I put in."

Another major turn around at the polls was in Bulk ward a strong Labour ward since the 1960s, it lost one of its three seats to the Green Party's John Whitelegg.

The Green Party also celebrated a major success in Castle ward with Jon Barry, Anne Chapman and Christopher Coates securing more 3,418 votes between them.

It was a sad night for Bolton-Le-Sands' Arthur Briggs who has been involved with local government for up to 70 years, as he said goodbye to his political career after failing to secure a seat as an Independent.

For more coverage of the election, and what it means for Lancaster City Council read next week's Citizen.

The winning candidates in the Lancaster City Council elections 2003 were:

Bare: Susan Bray (Con), John Fretwell (Con)

Bolton-Le-Sands: Keith Budden (Ind), Anthony Johnson (Con).

Bulk: Ian Barker (Lab), Abbott Bryning (Lab), John Whitelegg (Green)

Carnforth: Paul Gardner (Lab), Edna Jones (Lab).

Castle: Jon Barry (Green), Anne Chapman (Green), Christopher Coates (Green)

Duke's: Gina Dowding (Green).

Ellel: Susan Charles (Con), Helen Helme (Con).

Halton with Aughton: Paul Woodruff (Ind).

Harbour: Janice Hanson (Lab), Peter Robinson (Lab), David Whitaker (Lab).

Heysham Central: Geoffrey Knight (MBI), Joyce Taylor (ind)

Heysham North: Tina Clifford (Lab), Ronald Sands (Lab)

Heysham South: Michael Greenall (MBI), Philip Lee (MBI), Shirley Reid (MBI),

Kellet: Roger Mace (Con)

Lower Lune Valley: Joyce Pritchard (lib Dem), Pat Quinton (Lib Dem)

Overton: Mort Allan (MBI).

Poulton: Evelyn Archer (MBI) Shirley Burns (MBI), Rebekah Gerrard (Lab)

Silverdale: Sarah Fishwick (Con).

Skerton: Charles Grattan (Lab), John Harrison (Lab), Robert Redfern (Lab)

Skerton West: Janet Horner (Lab), Jean Jones (Lab), Roger Sherlock (Lab).

Slyne with Hest: Sylvia Rogerson (Con), James Thomas (Con).

Torrisholme: Evelyn Ashworth (MBI), Ian Clift (Lib Dem), Ronald Day (Lib Dem)

Warton: Jean Dent (Ind)

University: Stuart Langhorn (Lib Dem), Alexander Stone (Lib Dem)

Upper Lune Valley: James Airey (Con)

Westgate: David Kerr (MBI), Anthony Wade (MBI), Geoffrey Wilson (MBI)

Party seats

Conservative 10

Green Party 7

Labour 20

Lib Dem8

Morecambe Bay Independents 11

Other Independents 4

Social Alliance 0

UK Independents 0

Vacancies 3

Total: 60 seats

May 2, 2003 11:00