Stuart Hughes held off a stiff challenge from UKIP to retrain his seat on Devon County Council in the Sidmouth Sidford ward.

The Conservative member, the current cabinet member for highways at County Hall, polled 1,923 votes in yesterday’s election.

UKIP’s Lawrie Brownlee finished in second with .1505 votes, while Judy Blackwell finished third for Labour with 361 votes, with Martin Gammell polling 278 votes for the Liberal Democrats.

See the Sidmouth Herald website for more results and reaction.

Full Results:

Stuart Hughes (Conservative) – 1,923

Lawrie Brownlee (UKIP) – 1,505

Martin Gammell (Liberal Democrat) – 361

Judy Blackwell (Labour) – 278

Turnout 37.87 per cent