OUSTED Lib Dem county councillor Maurice Oram, described the Tory onslaught in Marlow as a "very difficult obstacle to overcome" after Conservatives took both seats at the county elections.

Veteran Mr Oram, who has been a county councillor for the past 16 years in Marlow, lost his seat to Conservative candidates Doug Anson and Frank Sweatman.

The former town mayor, who polled 3113 votes, only lost the second Marlow seat by 419 votes to Cllr Sweatman but it was enough to remove him from the job that he had done since 1989.

Mr Oram said it was the incorporation of Marlow Bottom into the now single Marlow ward that had helped defeat the Lib Dems.

He said: "There were 2,300 electors in Marlow Bottom and we knew as soon as that was added on that the Conservatives were always much stronger, and we knew we were not going to poll more votes. This was the deciding factor in the boundary changes but in Marlow itself we held our own."

Mr Oram's defeat meant that Cllr Sweatman retained his seat on the county council, which he had previously held alongside Mr Oram in the old Marlow North/South wards.

The wards were changed for the first time this year to form a single Marlow ward, and Marlow Rural was also removed to help form Chiltern Valley.

Cllr Oram, who still sits on Wycombe District Council and Marlow Town Council, said the Lib Dems had "never really" campaigned in Marlow Bottom before because it had been well represented at a district council level.

He said he would miss sitting on the Fire Authority as a county representative but was happy that the new Marlow Fire Station was almost complete.

Cllr Anson, who just last week also became the chairman for the district council, won the popular vote of the candidates polling 4,040 in total.