THE UK Independence Party has recorded its best-ever results in the 2004 European elections in the south-west.

It won two of the seven available seats, polling 22.6 per cent of the vote.

This is an increase of 11.9 per cent over the 1999 election, with 326,784 people voting for the anti-European Union party.

Roger Knapman now joins Graham Booth for the party in Brussels.

Frances Howard, sub-agent for Ukip in Salisbury, said the party had done very well.

"We feel our message has finally got through," she said.

"People want to know exactly what's going on in Europe.

"Other parties just toe the line but with us, what you see is what you get."

The Conservative Party once again came out on top but with considerably fewer voters than in the last European elections.

With 31.6 per cent of the vote, the party now only has three seats in the European parliament, down from four.

Alexander Stockton lost his seat but Giles Chichester, Caroline Jackson and Neil Parish were all re-elected.

Nationally, the Tories are still leading with 27 per cent of the vote but this is still their lowest share of any nationwide election since 1832.

Robert Key, Salisbury's Conservative MP, said: "I am delighted that the Conservatives won the European elections very convincingly, with the largest number of MEPs nationally and locally in the south-west.

"Naturally, it's disappointing that we dropped ten points on last time, but it's particularly humiliating for the Labour party, who were pushed into fourth place in the south-west by Ukip.

"Of course, Ukip did well from a low base.

"However, it's very important to realise that, should Ukip get their way, it would solve nothing, because British industry and government face more problems by leaving the European Union than by staying in and fighting our corner."

The number of Conservative votes in the south-west fell by 10.1 per cent, to 457,371, while Labour votes fell by 3.6 per cent to 209,908.

The Liberal Democrats, on the other hand, saw their share of the vote rise by 1.9 per cent, to 265,619.

While the Conservatives lost a seat, the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties saw each of their single representatives re-elected.

The Greens, the British National Party, the Countryside Party and Respect - the Unity Coalition failed to win any seats but took 13 per cent of the vote between them.

Nearly 40,000 votes were cast across the south-west in last Thursday's election.

And for the first time, Gibraltar was included in the region, with the islanders' votes being included in the area's count.

Locally, 41.4 per cent of people living in south Wiltshire went to the polls - a dramatic rise on the 28.8 per cent recorded in the 1999 elections.

Phil Bellis, Salisbury district council's senior democratic service officer, said: "We're quite pleased with the turnout.

"The figures are up 12.6 per cent compared with the last European parliamentary elections, held five years ago in May 1999, although boundary changes since 1999 make the results not directly comparable.

"Also, an increase in the issue of postal votes might have contributed to this increase."