POWER at Southend Council was taken away from the Conservatives after UKIP and the Independents made gains.

The authority has gone into no overall control following the count for the local elections on Thursday night.

Eurosceptic party UKIP where victorious in five wards earning their first seats on the council.

This included seeing James Moyies ousting cabinet member Tony Cox in West Shoebury.

Gains were also made by the Independents in four seats while Labour added three councillors to their group.

The results mean although the Tories remain as the biggest party they no longer have a majority.

Negotiations will now begin between the parties discussing any possible coalitions in a bid to gain control of the council.

The make-up of the council now looks like this:

19 Conservative

13 Independent

9 Labour

5 Lib Dem

5 UKIP

1 Independent member