SIR - On behalf of the nine Labour candidates who contested all the seats that were subject to election on May 3, I would like to thank voters who gave us their support.

As leader of the Labour Group on the council, I also want to assure voters that we will continue to do our best to hold the ruling Conservatives to account.

None of the seats contested was currently held by Labour and whilst we did not take any new seats we did increase our share of the vote in many areas.

I would like to pay tribute particularly to Joe Lord in Settle who cut the sitting Conservative councillor’s majority to just 64 and to Howard Matthew in Bentham who was just 128 votes behind the victorious Conservative.

Labour was the only party that contested all nine seats showing there are no ‘no go’ areas for us and I am pleased that our supporters responded.

The council will face many serious problems over the coming years as national government support is further reduced and we grapple with the problems of providing affordable housing for our residents whilst preserving our heritage and growing the local economy.

Where the ruling group take decisions in the interests of the community they will have our support but where we think they are going wrong we will not hesitate to say so.

Peter Madeley, Leader, Labour Group, Craven District Council