Former Faversham Mayor Trevor Fentiman won the Swale Borough Council by-election for Teynham and Lynsted caused by the death of Cllr John Disney.

Cllr Fentiman, took 463 votes for the Conservatives while Ken Rowles, Labour, won 189 and Brenda Hammond, Liberal Democrat, gained 78.

He said: “I was very surprised. I knew I would get good support but this was more than I expected."

He said the area was facing problems caused by traffic on the A2 which would increase when the northern distributor road is built.

Cllr Fentiman has set up a blog tfentiman.blogspot.com.

The political balance on the borough council is Conservatives 28 members, Labour 10, Liberal Democrat five and Independent four.