LABOUR and the Tories suffered a Euro election blow last night as voters deserted them in their thousands in favour of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the Liberal Democrats.

In the North-East, the LibDems won a seat from Labour, while in Yorkshire, a UKIP candidate was successful.

Early this morning, with nine of the 11 regions declared, the Tories had polled 27.9 per cent of the vote across the country and Labour 21.5 per cent, giving them 22 and 14 MEPs respectively.

Those figures represent a 9.9 per cent fall in the Conservative vote and a 5.6 per cent drop in Labour support.

But UKIP were the big winners, overtaking the LibDems into third place. UKIP won 17.7 per cent of the vote, compared with the LibDems' 14.9 per cent - an 8.9 per cent surge in support from 1999.

In the North-East, Labour MEP Barbara "Mo" O'Toole lost her seat to LibDem Fiona Hall, a former nuclear activist and currently researcher for Berwick MP Alan Beith.

Labour received 266,057 votes (34.1 per cent), the Tories 144,969 (18.6 per cent) and the LibDems 138,791 (17.8 per cent) in the region. UKIP scooped 94,887 (12.2 per cent), and the British National Party 50,249 (6.4 per cent),

Independent candidate Neil Herron polled 39,658 (5.1 per cent), the Green Party 37,247 votes (4.8 per cent), and Respect, the anti-war coalition, 8,633 (1.1 per cent).

The result gave Labour, the Conservatives and the LibDems one North-East MEP each and made Ms Hall the first LibDem MEP for the region.

Labour's Stephen Hughes, elected for the fifth time, said: "It is very clear that we have an awful lot of work to do to win any referendum on a European constitution."

Ms O'Toole, the ex-wife of Darlington MP Alan Milburn, said: "It is my sincere hope that the party will learn from this and come back stronger than ever at the General Election."

The North-East vote comes only days after the LibDems wrested control of Newcastle City Council from Labour for the first time in 30 years.

A jubilant Ms Hall said: "This will send another warning that the Liberal Democrats are now a genuine threat to Labour in this region."

Conservative MEP Martin Callanan acknowledged some of his support had switched to UKIP, but said: "Despite that, I believe our vote has held up well."

The North-East pioneered a postal voting system that increased turnout to 41.5 per cent - up from 19.58 per cent in 1999.

In Yorkshire and the Humber, both major parties lost an MEP. Edward MacMillan-Scott and Timothy Kirkhope were elected for the Conservatives, and Linda McAvan and Richard Corbett were elected for Labour, which meant no seat for sitting MEP David Bowe.

Godfrey Bloom, of UKIP, was elected and LibDem Diana Wallis retained her seat.

Labour polled a total of 413,213 votes (26.27 per cent of the vote), the Tories received 387,569 (24.62 per cent) and the LibDems 244,607 (15.55 per cent).

UKIP came very close to toppling the LibDems for third place with 228,666 votes (14.54 per cent). The British National Party polled 126,538 votes (8.04 per cent) with the Green Party on 90,337 (5.74 per cent).

* Former BBC journalist Martin Bell called time on his political career this morning after failing to win a seat. Mr Bell stood as an independent in the Eastern region.