THE Conservatives won last week's Milton Ford by-election in West Devon, beating the Liberal Democrat candidate in a tight contest by 22 votes.
Dilwyn Hughes, a retired farmer from Lifton, polled 248 votes to take the seat — his only other rival Martin Taylor had 226 votes.
There was just one spoiled paper.
Turnout for the election was a respectable 41.2 per cent.
Mr Hughes, aged 72, said: 'It was a very good result — the majority was only 22, but then one is a majority.
'I am very pleased to be elected and I would like to thank everybody who supported me — irrespective of party.'
Mr Hughes said he made two promises when he was canvassing the ward.
'Firstly the speed of traffic — there is one spot where there are no speed restrictions and there are houses which open right onto the roadside.
'The other thing is street lights, particularly for the elderly, so they can see where they are going.'
He said he was also concerned about the lack of public transport in rural areas like Milton Ford.
Mr Hughes is a former member of Plymouth City Council and chairman of the local NFU branch.
The Milton Ford seat became vacant in March, when Independent member Michael Pithouse resigned after serving almost five years on the council.
The by-election result brings the total number of Tory seats on the borough council to ten — there are 12 Independents and eight Liberal Democrats.