Labour general election candidate Gillian Troughton was "devastated" after suffering a shock defeat in the county council elections.

Mrs Troughton was bidding to hold onto her Cumbria County Council seat but lost out to Tory Martin Barbour, who is the new councillor for the Howgate electoral division.

She has already been selected to run for MP in next month's general election, despite losing the seat her party had held since 1935, to Conservative Trudy Harrison, in February's Copeland by-election

Speaking after her county council defeat, in the early hours of Friday morning, she said: "I'm completely devastated. I'll take the weekend off and then throw myself into the general election campaign.

"The turnout wasn't very high today so we'll have to see [about the general election], I'm still hopeful."

Mr Barbour secured his seat with 623 votes to Mrs Troughton's 566. UKIP candidate Eric Atkinson took 75 votes and 44 went to The Green Party's Sharon Watson.

Labour's prospective MP was selected for the general election ahead of local health and homelessness campaigner Rachel Holliday, who also failed to gain a county council seat for the party.

The number of Labour representatives on the county council dropped from nine to four as Copeland Conservatives enjoyed a successful night.

Mrs Troughton said the results reflected a countrywide shift.

"There has been a national swing against us," she said. "We've lost some good councillors tonight and I'm really sad for the people of Cumbria.

"This wasn't because of a lack of work, we've all worked very hard."

The Copeland councillor, of Moresby Parks, will again face Conservative candidate Mrs Harrison in the general election, who served just two months in Parliament before the upcoming election was called by her party.

Speaking earlier this week, Mrs Troughton claimed Labour could overturn the by-election result if they can mobilise individuals who did not vote last time.

She said: "Last time there was a general feeling that voters could send a message, because it was a by-election. This is more serious.

"We weren't going to change who was in government last time. This time it is about getting the Conservatives out of government."