March 1, 2001 9:25: BEACONSFIELD Conservatives are celebrating this week after gaining control of the town council for the first time in more than 20 years.

Beaconsfield town councillor Anne Main (Con, South Ward) said she was delighted that the Conservative team had taken the two vacant seats on Beaconsfield Town Council and the one free seat on South Bucks District Council in last Thursday's by-election.

Cllr Main won the district council seat in the South Ward with 384 votes and Dr Phillip Lee (336 votes) and Steve Jones (316 votes) took the town council seats for the South Ward.

More than 30 per cent of the electorate turned out.

The seats became available at the end of last year after the resignation of long-standing town and district councillor Lesley Mallinder and fellow Liberal Democrat Becky Linford-Jones.

The election of two additional Tory candidates onto the town council means that ten of the 16 seats are occupied by Conservatives, but Cllr Main said she did not think that party affiliation was important in local politics.

She added: "I'm really pleased that we now have a team in Beaconsfield and we will be able to give the town a good service.

"People didn't vote for us because we are Conservatives, they voted for me because they know me and they think the other two will do their best for Beaconsfield."

Dr Phillip Lee, 30, who works at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, said he had been pleasantly surprised by the results.

He added: "I'm looking forward to my first meeting and my primary area of concern is traffic in the town. At the moment it all seems a bit piecemeal and I'd like to see a survey.

"I'm also concerned with law and order as I, too, had my car broken into over Christmas."

The third new councillor is Steve Jones, a 46 year-old general manager at Marlborough House Properties, who has either lived or worked in Beaconsfield for 30 years.

He said: "I'm very pleased to get elected and am delighted that all three of us have been elected as a team."

Cllr Jones said he "would like to make a contribution to the well being of the Old Town" but was not yet sure of specific issues he would like to see addressed.

Cllr Paul Henry (Lib Dem, South Ward) said he was disappointed with the result.

He added: "I fear the Conservatives will now vote in a block and this could mean things getting pushed through without open debate. It's very unfortunate for the town."

The make-up of the Conservative-dominated district council has not changed significantly and there are now 28 Conservatives, ten Independents and two Liberal Democrats.

Matthew Harris