THE battle for Haddenham was expected to be a close battle between the Conservatives and the Lib Dems - but in the end it was a comfortable victory for the Tories and second place for UKIP.

Bill Hunt has retained the division’s seat with 1,292 votes.

District Councillor Gareth Wilson - who was expected to run Cllr Hunt close for the seat - only polled 463 votes and was pushed back into third place by UKIP’s Mark Higginson, who polled 538 votes.

Labour candidate Rob Bailey polled 236 votes and Green candidate Gemma Bristow polled 90 votes.