BRIAN Edwards begins his fifth stint as Kinver County Councillor for South Staffordshire after repelling the rise of UKIP.

The long-serving Conservative polled 1619 votes, beating UKIP’s Paul Brothwood into second place on 1108 while Labour’s Christine Ridgeway was third on 375.

Stourton based Mr Edwards has already given 24 years service to South Staffordshire and has hinted this will be his last spell.

He revealed: “In my previous four county council elections, they were always held on the same day as general elections.

“As a result, the turnout was always quite high, around 60 to 70 per cent. This time the turnout was only 32 to 33 per cent, which was disappointing, although I was quite happy with the result.

“It turned out to be a straight fight, but a fair fight with UKIP, although I was a bit surprised the Liberals didn’t put up a candidate this time.

“I thought this election was more effected by the media coverage on television rather than local issue. It was a campaign fought in London.

“For the first time, parts of Lower Penn were included in the constituency, which had previously been part of Wombourne, although I don’t think many people realised.

“Kinver covers such a large area now, stretching from Iverley right through to Lower Penn.

“One of the first issues I will be tackling is policing. It’s a situation we’re not happy with and as part of South Staffordshire’s Crime Panel, I will be speaking with the Crime Commissioner, even though we don’t have any control over it.”