The Conservatives could make only modest gains in this week's local elections, Iain Duncan Smith has predicted.

Speaking on Sunday, the Tory leader said that his party could win as few as 30 seats.

Privately, however, strategists feel that the party is capable of taking hundreds of seats from their political opponents.

A result that saw the Conservatives gain just a few dozen seats would be likely to prompt renewed speculation about Duncan Smith's future as party leader.

And the comments brought Labour accusations that their opponents were playing down expectations in order to prevent a "regime change" in the Conservative leadership.

Duncan Smith said that Tory gains could be limited because the party was successful the last time they were contested.

"We did so well last time round we will have to gain seats to stand still," he told BBC1's Breakfast with Frost.

"If we do gain seats, the net gain may be 30 or so which is what we put out. We are looking to keep control of councils because we won so many last time round."

But speaking to the same programme, Commons leader John Reid said the Conservatives would need to win hundreds of seats just to stand still.

"Whatever figures they put out, Iain Duncan Smith and the Conservatives know that just to standstill they have to get between 500 and 1000 seats," he said.

"Indeed to do as well as William Hague did - and he was not regard as extremely successful - Iain Duncan Smith would have to win a thousand seats from us.

"And if he doesn't I have no doubt there will be talk of 'regime change' in arenas other than the international arena."

However, with fears that Labour's grassroots could have been alienated by the government's stance on Iraq, Reid accepted the party would lose seats in local councils across England and Scotland.

Coming mid-term for the government, Thursday's polls would be a "hard challenge" for the party, he said.