New county councillor for Chorley Rural North

Conservative councillor Alan Cullens was elected with a majority of 102 in the by-election on Thursday.

The by-election was called following the death of Conservative councillor Mike Devaney..

Coun Cullens was elected with 1,144 votes, followed closely by Yvonne Marie Hargreaves, from the Labour party, with 1,042 votes.

Christopher Suart, UKIP, also received 303 votes, and Stephen John Fenn, Liberal Democrat, received 125 votes.

The county council reported that there were 2,614 ballots, with four of them being spoiled.

A spokesman said: “This by-election result does not affect the political composition of the county council.”

County coun Devaney died on May 19 at the age of 78.

The conservative councillor, who lived in Chorley, was elected onto Lancashire County Council in 2009 and became chairman in 2013.

He was previously a Chorley borough councillor, representing Clayton-le-Woods North.

Coun Paul Leadbetter, leader of the Conservatives in Chorley, described him as a “loyal and valued member of the Conservative group at Chorley Council”.