"The Conservatives have retained overall control of Lincolnshire County Council in the local elections - but it was the manner of their victory that looks ominous for Gordon Brown and Labour.

The local authority was one of only a handful of councils to hold its counts after the closure of its polling stations and the results were being studied beyond the East Midlands ahead of the counts later.

And Labour was nearly wiped off the county council's electoral map altogether as the Tories made sweeping gains.

The threat of an early BNP breakthrough never materialised. A small number of independent candidates scored victories.

2009 © Press Association

So, DMR, what drivel to you have to give us now?