Gordon Brown has vowed to "learn the lessons" from Labour's worst local election results for decades.

The party was beaten into third place, taking just 24 per cent of the vote, with the Conservatives on 44 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 25 per cent.

The Tories won 1,474 seats, an increase of 260, Labour were 333 down on 1,019 and the Lib Dems up 34 on 813.

The results are a damning verdict on Mr Brown's first year in power since taking over from Mr Blair, and the poor showing could raise questions about his leadership, analysts said.

If the results were replicated in a general election, they would see the Tories win a Parliamentary majority of 134.

Tory leader David Cameron celebrated a night of sweeping gains with a tour of the scenes of some of his party's most significant triumphs.

Mr Cameron said it had been a "vote of positive confidence" for his party on the road back to power at Westminster.

Mr Brown said: "It's clear to me that this has been a disappointing night, indeed a bad night, for Labour.

"I said I was going to listen and lead. We are in difficult economic circumstances. I think people accept that we're going through some of the most challenging times we've seen in many years.

"The test of leadership is not what happens in a period of success but what happens in difficult circumstances."

Meanwhile, Tory hopes of crowning their night of success with a triumph in London rose after one bookmaker announced it was already paying out on a Boris Johnson victory in the mayoral election, hours before the count was completed.

Mr Cameron said: "I think these results are not just a vote against Gordon Brown and his Government. I think they are a vote of positive confidence in the Conservative Party.

"I think this is a very big moment for the Conservative Party, but I don't want anyone to think that we would deserve to win an election just on the back of a failing Government.

"I want us to really prove to people that we can make the changes they want to see. That's what I'm going to devote myself and my party to doing over the next few months."

Labour's council losses included Reading, its last bastion in the South East, and its former Welsh strongholds of Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr Tydfil and Torfaen.

Among the Conservative gains were Southampton, Bury and Nuneaton and Bedworth, which it took straight from Labour.

The Liberal Democrats salvaged their flagship council Liverpool through a last-minute deal with Independent councillor Nadia Stewart, who joined the party to give it a wafer-thin absolute majority after it appeared to have lost overall control.

The party also reasserted its grip on former Labour stronghold Hull, which it first won last year only to see the city slip from its hands due to defections, and gained St Albans from no overall control.

Greens were celebrating in Norwich, where they beat the Lib Dems to become the main opposition grouping on a council for the first time.

The far-right British National Party gained eight seats - two each in Rotherham, Nuneaton & Bedworth and Amber Valley, and one in Pendle and Thurrock.

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