Ref. 30862-103THE Liberal Democrats said they were shocked and disappointed last night after losing their stronghold ward of Freshbrook and Grange Park.

In a close-run contest, new Tory councillor Peter Greenhalgh slid forward with 1,013 votes, narrowly beating Tracy Fisher who received 942 votes.

Coun Greenhalgh, who is another new face in the ranks of the Tories, is an IT engineer and father-of-one.

Last night he was delighted to have been chosen.

He has lived in the town for 11 years with his family but said he had already identified issues to work on and described the process of becoming a councillor as challenging but good fun.

He said: "Having listened to a number of residents across the area, there are clearly issues that need to be addressed. I think some of the Freshbrook residents felt they have been ignored by the Lib Dems and I feel that the quality of the facilities in the area do not match up to those found in the rest of the town.

"We now need to identify those shortfalls."

Coun Greenhalgh joined other Tories to campaign against proposals for a football stadium on the former tip site of Shaw Community Forest, which may have helped his majority, even though the sports complex would lie outside the ward's boundaries.

The Lib Dems may have been damaged by appearing to give tacit support for the stadium plans.

Freshbrook and Grange Park's former Lib Dem councillor Judith Peppitt stood down to contest Toothill and Westlea, which she lost.

Coun Greenhalgh said that he wanted to tackle the problems of anti-social behaviour and the placing of speed controls and pedestrian crossings, saying: "I am hopeful that we can look again at speed humps, they are not the best way forward."

Wendy Johnson (Lib Dem Old Town and Lawns) said she was shocked and disappointed by the result.

"There was clearly a mood for change in the ward," she said.

"It was clear that there were many protest votes at work here from people who wanted to kick back at the government and the current council tax situation."

Around 31 per cent of the ward's electorate turned out for the elections, slightly below average compared to the rest of Swindon.

Coun Greenhalgh said: "The turnout was just fantastic, I never thought it would be such a close call, but I am really grateful to be chosen by the ward to represent them at the council."

Anthony Osborne