IT WAS the result most were expecting as the status quo was maintained in Fareham.

But any celebrations were tinged with slight disappointment as both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats both failed to snatch a single seat from the other.

• Full Fareham Results

The balance of power on Fareham Borough Council remains the same, with the Tories keeping 22 seats and the Lib Dems nine. Up for grabs last night were 16 seats – ten stayed with the Tories and the other six with the Lib Dems.

Despite seeing his majority dip from 80 per cent to 68 per cent in his ward of Sarisbury, leader of Fareham Borough Council, Sean Woodward, was all smiles and delighted with the results.

He said: “It’s exactly as we were but with hefty majorities in every seat. There were a couple of seats we were looking at but our top priority was to maintain the seats we held and keep the large majorities.

We will continue exactly as we are, hopefully with the support of a Conservative Government.”

Similar sentiments were shared by the leader of the opposition, Liberal Democrat Roger Price.

He said: “We have done extremely well on the seats. We kept all six seats and all with increased majorities. I am disappointed we did not win extra seats but the most important thing for us was that we kept what we have got.”

A bumper turnout saw 71.62 per cent of those eligible to vote choosing to exercise their democratic right, which saw queues streaming out of a number of polling stations throughout the day.