THE leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Harrow Council has blamed the borough's "refuse collection disaster" for the Conservative's defeat in Thursday's Harrow Weald by-election.
The LibDem candidate Paul Scott regained one of the ward's three seats from the Tories, just three months after they had seized them in May.
Councillor Scott joins Councillor Chris Noyce on the LibDem benches in the council chamber, doubling the party's strength.
The by-election was called following the death of Conservative councillor John Anderson, who had been elected to the council for the first time in May.
In May, the LibDems lost all their of their Harrow Weald seats to the Tories, and would have been wiped off the council if Councillor Noyce had not regained the Rayners Lane seat he lost in the party's nomination paper fiasco in 2002.
He has sat alone since May.
A delighted Councillor Noyce said: "We are feeling very pleased that we have doubled the group.
"Paul will be representing the good electors of Harrow Weald to the best of his ability.
"Clearly, the Tory's plan to have the by-election in the summer when no one was here backfired.
"In my 24 years in local politics, to the best of my knowledge I have never known an election in August.
"They also even called the by-election before Councillor John Anderson was cremated.
"I suspect it was an attempt to stave off their refuse collection disaster."
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