JUBILANT Conservatives gained sweet revenge for their party's general election defeat by retaining outright control of Dorset County Council.

The Tories won 24 of the 45 seats up for grabs, with a majority of three over all the other parties.

There will be 13 new faces on the council.

The Liberal Democrats now have 16 seats while Labour have four. There is one Independent.

A total number of 244,437 votes were cast and overall turnout was high at 77.84 per cent, compared with 66 per cent of votes at the 2001 elections.

The biggest shocks were in North Dorset where Conservative Gordon Hine lost his Shaftesbury seat to Liberal Democrat Tim Cook, and fellow Liberal Democrat David Fox ousted Tory Ruth Ash to take the Blackmore Vale ward.

In East Dorset, Conservative group leader Derek Burt and John Wilson retained their Ferndown seats with over 5,300 votes each - despite strong opposition from objectors to the county council's proposed waste treatment plant on the Uddens Industrial Estate.

The Liberal Democrats' Janet Dover won the Colehill and Stapehill ward, taking over from Don Wallace, who has retired.

There were two changes in Purbeck, where in Lytchett, Liberal Democrat Frederick Drane successfully gained a seat held previously by Conservative John Pay, and in Purbeck Hills the seat formerly held by late Liberal Democrat Philip Duffy was taken by Conservative Michael Lovell.

Record numbers voted in Christchurch's elections to the county council, with no seats changing hands.

Hampshire County Council remains strongly Conservative.

The state of parties last night stood at 45 for the Tories, 27 for the Liberal Democrats and four for Labour, with the result of one two-member division still to come in.

Chairman of Hampshire Police Authority Simon Hayes, who stepped down from the Lymington division to unsuccessfully fight for a seat in the Commons at Mid Dorset and North Poole constituency, was replaced by town councillor Adrian Evans who grabbed 56 per cent of the vote from Liberal Democrat Martina Humber.

Mel Kendall, who also leads New Forest District Council, retained Lyndhurst division, also with 56 per cent.

Alan Rice proved his long-term popularity with a 62 per cent of the vote to beat Liberal Democrat Wynford Davies at Milford & Hordle.

An even bigger share of the vote went to Hampshire County Council leader Ken Thornber, who lives at Sway and represents Brockenhurst.