LABOUR held on to the City of Durham, albeit with a much reduced majority, as they saw off a strong Liberal Democrat challenge for the constituency.

Newly-elected MP Roberta Blackman Woods was "absolutely delighted" with the result in which Labour kept the seat that the Liberal Democrats had made their top target in the North-East, but saw its majority slashed from 13,400 to just 3,274.

Ms Blackman Woods said: "It was obviously going to be a difficult campaign for us, but I am really pleased to see that we do have a Labour MP working with a Labour Government.

"We campaigned on our record in government and people judged us on that."

In the end, Labour's victory was reasonably comfortable, but it came after a tense night for the candidates and party workers.

For most of the night, the result was deemed too close to call. The Lib Dems seemed to have hopes of capturing the prize constituency, until minutes before the declaration.

When the result finally came, the predominant mood among Labour supporters appeared more exhaustion than jubilation at the end of a campaign fought with all the intensity of a marginal by-election.

But all sides took some solace from the result.

The Liberal Democrats saw a huge swing, turning a safe Labour seat into a marginal.

Defeated candidate Carol Woods said: "I am disappointed, but this is probably one of the biggest swings of the night to any party and, as a team, we have achieved a tremendous amount - and we will make sure Durham isn't taken for granted by the Labour Government."

Conservative Ben Rogers was squeezed out in the battle between the two leading parties, but was widely praised for his campaign and now looks a likely candidate to find a more winnable seat.

He said: "A number of our voters have been taken in by the Lib Dem propaganda of voting tactically. If I had to lose to someone I am pleased to lose to a candidate who fought a decent and honourable campaign, like Roberta Blackman Woods."

Tony Martin - the Veritas candidate better known as the Durham Cobbler - could draw some comfort from polling a respectable 1,600 votes.

He said: "I am a bit disappointed but I haven't done that bad with the resources I had. There is a nice platform there for me to build on."

Ulster-born university lecturer, Ms Blackman Woods, who succeeds Gerry Steinberg as the city's MP, promised to work towards improving education and skills in the city and the regeneration of the city and, particularly, the former pit villages which surround it.

She said: "It was always going to be close.

"We knew there was a strong challenge coming from the Lib Dems because it was their number one target, and as a university town, we knew there were going to be issues with tuition fees and Iraq.

"The result is important for Durham in that we will be able to continue our record investment in public services, but it is also part of a much wider picture in that the country has returned a record third-term Labour Government and that will be good for all of us."

FULL RESULT

Roberta Blackman Woods....(Lab) 20,929

Tony Martin (Veritas).........................1,603

Ben Rogers (Cons)...........................4,179

Carol Woods (Lib Dem)..................17,654

Electorate 71,441

Turnout 44,364 (62.10%, +2.52%