Labour has seen limited losses in the latest round of local elections.

The party's candidates won three of the four mayoral posts being contested around the country in Doncaster, Stoke-on-Trent, and North Tyneside.

Stuart Drummond, Hartlepool's independent mayor, was elected for a second term, polling over 10,000 more votes in Thursday's mayoral election than Labour candidate Carl Richardson.

But in Stoke-on-Trent, Labour's Mark Meredith defeated previous incumbent Mike Wolfe.

Labour's John Harrison secured a narrow win in North Tyneside, polling 1,002 votes more than Conservative candidate Linda Arkley.

And in Doncaster, Labour's Martin Winter was returned after a hard fought battle with independent Michael Maye.

In the 34 county council elections being held on the same day, the Conservatives gained control of five authorities in England while the Liberal Democrats gained three.

The Tories won control of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Suffolk, Worcestershire and Northamptonshire, with a total gain of 153 councillors.

And the Liberal Democrats, who did not previously control any county councils, have gained three which were previously under no overall control - Devon, Cornwall and Somerset.

Labour has retained control of its six county councils in the north and Midlands, but lost a total of 109 councillors across the country.

Hampshire is the only council still to declare its result, which is to be recounted on Monday.

There were also elections for the unitary authorities of Bristol, the Isle of Wight, the Isles of Scilly and Stockton-on-Tees.

The Tories took the Isle of Wight with a net gain of 22 seats to win overall control, largely at the expense of the Lib Dems who lost 14 seats.

And they took control at another unitary council, West Berkshire, after gaining a Lib Dem seat at a by-election.

Thursday's results leave the Tories as by far the largest force in local politics, with control of 24 county and unitary councils.