Andrew Murrison is carried out in triumphant mood after winning the Westbury seat by over 5,000 majority. His Brother Richard carries him (left) and his agent Graham Payne.WESTBURY MP Andrew Murrison swept to victory to gain a second term in parliament with 44.5 per cent of the vote.

After a long night Dr Murrison's decisive win, with a majority of 5,349, was finally announced at 5.30am on Friday morning.

He said: "I am delighted with the result. It is a huge honour to be elected as a member of parliament and it is an even greater honour to be re-elected for a second term."

Despite being beaten into second place with 19,400 votes Liberal Democrat candidate Duncan Hames added over 3,000 extra votes to the amount gained by the party at the last election in 2001.

He said: "I would have liked a different result but I am pleased we have seen our vote go up as much as it has.

"I am delighted to see the gains we have made across the country and more locally."

Labour candidate Phil Gibbey came away with 9,640 votes while Lincoln Williams of UKIP polled 1,185.

The constituency was amongst the latest to declare due mainly to the county council elections being held at the same time.

West Wiltshire District Council chose to use the same ballot boxes for both elections and sorting and checking the papers meant the actually

count did not start until about 3am.

Council spokesman Louise Knox said: "Papers folded into one another was the main problem, it was not just a care of sorting the papers."

When asked if it would have been a better idea to separate the two types of voting slip she said: "There are arguments both for and against

double or single boxes. I think we felt because the papers were different colours we would be able to sort them out but, obviously, lessons can be learnt."

Acting returning officer and chief executive of West Wiltshire District Council Andrew Pate said: The count was very successful. It took a little while I know but we had a really accurate and successful vote.

The total turnout at the poling stations was 67.78 per cent, slightly up on 2001, which saw 66.81 per cent of the populations voting.

Check out the Wiltshire Times and Chippenham News next week for the full round up of Westbury and North Wiltshire constituencies.

The paper will feature interviews with the candidates and photographs from the night, plus graphics of the new political landscape.

In addition, there will be full coverage of the north and west Wiltshire County Council results.