Council election results for South Tyneside, Newcastle and Hartlepool

Election counts have also been taking place elsewhere in the North East.

Here’s how other councils have fared so far:

South Tyneside

Labour retained control of South Tyneside, but lost at least seven seats to independents.

The party needed to win four seats of the 14 seats it held going in to polling day, and while it achieved that, its majority will be reduced.

Newcastle

Labour retained control of Newcastle after winning 12 of the first 19 seats to be declared early on Friday morning.

The party held 46 of the 78 council seats going in to polling day and needed to win 10 of the 27 being contested to retain control.

The Liberal Democrats had won four, Greens two and independents one, with eight seats still to declare.

Hartlepool

Labour won nine of the 12 seats up for grabs in Hartlepool to gain control of the council, with independents winning two and the Conservatives one.