THE Conservatives took control of knife-edge Pendle Council by gaining one seat overall and bringing suspended Earby representative Rosemary Carroll back into the fold.

They took Marsden ward, previously held by retiring BNP councillor Brian Parker, and won Vivary Bridge, from the Liberal Democrats.

But 19-year-old Tom Whipp, son of veteran LibDem David, took Coates ward in Barnoldswick for the party. It was won in 2014 by 18-year-old Tory Lyle Davy.

With Cllr Carroll, suspended in August 2017 for sharing a ‘racist’ joke on Facebook, returning to the party this gave the Conservatives a majority of one ousting the former Labour/LibDem coalition from control.

The Tories now have 25 councillors, Labour 15 and the LibDems nine.

Conservative group leader Cllr Paul White said: “We can now implement our positive agenda.”

LibDem leader Cllr Tony Greaves said: “It’s going to be interesting.”