Vote 2012: Wrexham council leader Ron Davies loses seat

The Liberal Democrat leader of Wrexham council, Ron Davies, has lost his seat to an Independent.

Wrexham is one of 21 unitary local authorities in Wales being contested in local elections.

Labour made large gains to take 23 seats in Wrexham, the first full result announced in Wales, with the Liberal Democrats losing seven seats.

The party also made gains in Flintshire but not enough to take overall control of the authority.

Wrexham was run by an all-party coalition, with Labour previously being the largest party with 12 seats.

The authority will remain under no overall control, as Independents took 18 seats, Conservatives won five, Plaid Cymru one and Non Aligned one.

Mr Davies said he did not expect such a bad result for the Liberal Democrats in Wrexham.

"It's a great disappointment, particularly for some of the members who are younger than me," he said.

"They've worked so hard for the area and it's pulled the rug from under them."

In Flintshire, Labour won 31 seats, up from 21, to make it the largest party.

The authority was previously run by a Conservative/Independent/Liberal Democrat coalition.

Independents won 19, down five, while the Conservatives took eight seats, and Liberal Democrats seven.

Most councils are expected to declare during the early hours but others, such as Denbighshire, are not due until the afternoon.

Labour is defending about 340 seats, Plaid Cymru almost 200, the Conservatives 165 and the Liberal Democrats 140. The rest were filled by independents or small parties.

Polls closed at 22:00 BST on Thursday.