The Conservatives have lost control of their Ribble Valley Council political fortress as Labour and the Green Party made shock gains.

They also saw their tenuous grip on Pendle borough slip leaving the way open for a Labour/LibDem partnership to take power again.

And Labour also strengthened its position in Rossendale adding three councillors to their total to consolidate its position in charge of the council.

In Ribble Valley Labour won seven seats including one in Ribchester, two in Derby and Thornley, two in Dilworth, one in Clitheroe's Primrose ward and one in Whalley and Nethertown.

The Tories lost a seat in Whalley and Painterwood to an Independent as Ged Mirfin lost to John Atherton by six votes.

But they held on to the second councillor Mark Hindle.

The Greens took both seats in East Whalley, Read and Simonstone from the Conservatives.

The Liberal Democrats lost two seats overall but held both seats in Clitheroe's St Mary's ward - the last to declare.

Before this set of local elections Labour and the Greens had no councillors.

This leaves the balance of power in the 40 councillor council as Conservatives 18, LidDems eight, Labour seven, Greens two, and five Independents.

The Conservatives lost eight seats.

Ribble Valley Conservative group leader Cllr Stephen Atkinson said: "We have lost a lot of seats.

"I think it's national politics playing out at a local level.

"We have lost of lot of hard-working councillors.

"The electorate are unhappy with the Conservative party nationally and we are paying the price for it."

In Pendle, where the Tories had 17 of the 33 councillors before the local elections, Labour and the Lib Dems have taken three seats from them demolishing their majority of one.

While the Conservatives remain the largest party their opponents will spend the weekend trying to thrash out an agreement so they can take control of the borough in the kind of partnership they had before 2021.

It is also bad news for Pendle Tory MP Andrew Stephenson with a General Election looming.

The LibDems took Earby and Coates and Barnoldswick from the Conservatives while Labour seized Marsden and Southfield from them.

Pendle LibDem group leader Cllr David Whipp said: "I am delighted with our results.

"We will talk to both the Conservatives and Labour and hope to be able to agree policy positions. We have worked with both in Pendle in the past."

In Rossendale Labour took Greenfield and Greensclough from the Tories and Irwell from Independent Janet Eaton.

The Labour leaders of Rossendale Council Cllr Alyson Barnes said: "We are delighted with the election results in Rossendale, which takes the total number of Labour Councillors on the council to 22.

"Todays results mean that for the first time in the councils history there are no Conservative councillors representing Bacup. This is a tribute to the fantastic work Labour councillors are doing in the town.

"We have also had a first time win in Greenfield ward on Greenfield's current boundary.

"Turnout was down, but it is clear that people have had enough of the Tories and their empty promises."

Tory group leader Cllr David Foxcroft said: "Today's results are obviously not what we would have hoped for.

"Local elections are always used as a referendum on national issues. We will continue to fight for residents across Rossendale ahead of all our elections next May."