Anxious councillors had to wait for the city election count as the alternative votes first had to be verified.

Teams of counters were not only faced with the task of dealing with the yellow voting forms but first had to verify the grey AV ballot forms.

Worcester was the third quickest in the West Midlands to verify the AV votes, of which 29,714 were cast.

The votes will be counted at 4pm today. Meanwhile, confusion still surrounds whether the Conservatives of the city council will hold on to overall control as Councillor Aubrey Tarbuck, who was controversially deselected by the party in Malvern Hills is standing in the Broadheath ward today.

If he wins the Malvern Hills seat he may be kicked out of the party in Worcester.

Conservatives leader Coun Simon Geraghty would not be drawn on that last night and just said he wanted to enjoy the celebrations.

• Politicians in Northern Ireland face marathon election counts that get under way today to fill seats in the Stormont Assembly and in the region's 26 local councils.

The final shape of the power-sharing Assembly will not be known until tomorrow evening, and it will be Monday before counting even starts for the council elections.