The Tories have hailed Thursday's local election gains as a triumph and a serious blow to Labour.

Speaking after his party secured a further 29 councils, winning over 650 more seats, Iain Duncan Smith delivered an upbeat assessment of the results.

"This is a spectacular victory for the tens of thousands of local Conservatives who have campaigned tirelessly on local issues across the country," he said.

"The Labour Party have had their worst result since the Winter of Discontent in 1979. The Conservatives are now the largest party of local government in Great Britain.

"More and more people are recognising that Conservatives provide better services and still manage to charge lower taxes - a fair deal for everyone."

Labour insisted Duncan Smith's party would have to poll far higher than 34 per cent if it was to be in with a chance of winning the next general election.

"There's not a government in history that has not had a bad mid-term, even as good a government as this one," said party chairman Ian McCartney.

"The question was could the Conservatives in mid-term under Iain Duncan Smith do as well as William Hague and the answer to that is they failed dismally."

But Labour's high command will be examining the party's strategy after losing over 750 councillors.

One in three voters turned out to give their mid-term assessment in the local elections - giving Labour a bloody nose in Birmingham and the Tories gains across the country.

More than 10,000 seats were up for grabs in the 238 non-metropolitan, 54 metropolitan and 28 unitary councils across England.

The Lib Dems increased their share of the vote - securing over 150 additional council wards.

The Conservatives won some early victories - taking control of East Staffordshire, Hyndburn and Worcester.

It also had a psychological victory in Basildon - where it seized the council from no overall control.

Congleton turned true blue again after a period with no party being in sole command.

Labour took a blow in its inner city heartland of Birmingham - where it lost a substantial number of councillors and saw the council slip into no overall control.

Tony Blair's party also lost control of Rochdale and Trafford.

The Lib Dems, who saw their support running at around 30 per cent, secured gains across England but lost their clutch on Brentwood Council.

Charles Kennedy said the results showed that the Lib Dems were making gains in some key Tory heartlands.

"Tory MPs should take note of the fact that the Liberal Democrats are winning in the constituencies of Theresa May, Virginia Bottomley and Michael Howard," he said.

"We are set to make major gains from the Conservatives at the next general election."

The BNP made gains in some of the small number of seats they contested - taking seven wards in Burnley and picking up seats in both Broxbourne and Stoke on Trent.

The Greens also received a boost: securing a seat on Norwich City Council following a concerted local campaign.