FIVE former mayors and two council leaders in west Wiltshire lost their seats in the local elections held on Thursday.

In Trowbridge, two former mayors, Peter Fuller and Geoff Whiffen, were unseated, while in Warminster, former mayor Tony Nicklin, lost his seat.

In Melksham two former mayors, Richard Wiltshire and Mrs Terri Welch, also failed to regain their seats.

In Bradford on Avon and Melksham, council leaders Dom Newton and Vanessa Fiorelli failed to get re-elected.

Cllr Dom Newton of the Ideal Bradford party, was ousted in an about-turn election putting the Liberal Democrats in charge.

Previously, Ideal Bradford held sway, but now the Lib Dems have seven of the 12 town council seats.

Kate Bessant, one of the successful Ideal Bradford candidates has been asked to take the lead.

“A huge thank you to Dom Newton for inviting me to think about standing and for steering the ship,” she posted.

“His drive, bravery and passion for making things better in this town have already changed things in ways many people will not know. You will be missed!"

Tim Trimble of the Liberal Democrats got 48.24 percent of the vote to put him in the Bradford on Avon North seat for Wiltshire Council.

Another Lib Dem, Sarah Gibson got 74.80 percent of the vote for Bradford on Avon South.

In Trowbridge, the Lib Dems strengthened their hold on the town council, taking 14 of the 21 seats. There are now six Conservative councillors and one independent, Graham Hill.

Cllr Andrew Bryant (LibDem) retained his town council seat but lost his Wiltshire Council seat to Cllr Antonio Piazza, the town council's Tory Group leader.

Former mayor Geoff Whiffen lost his seat in Grove Ward, while Peter Fuller, the outgoing mayor last year, failed to get re-elected in Trowbridge Park Ward.

Tom Bazan also lost his Conservative seat in Trowbridge Lambrok Ward.

In Melksham East, Independent candidate and council leader Vanessa Fiorelli was turfed out, while deputy mayor Geoff Mitcham also lost his seat in Melksham Forest.

In Melksham North, former mayor Richard Wiltshire lost his seat, and in Melksham South former mayor Terri Welch also missed out.

In Warminster, the Conservatives easily held the town council by 10-3 against Independents.

In Westbury, the majority control of the town council is still in the balance after the local election returned only 12 councillors out of a total 15 seats.

The council will now be asked to decide next week whether it wishes to co-opt three other members.

In the meantime, six Independents could be outvoted by a combination of one Liberal Democrat, four Labour councillors and two members with no political party affiliation made public.