Birmingham's Lib Dem leader has fired a warning shot at Labour MP Jess Phillips that her Yardley seat is under threat following Thursday's local election.

The Lib Dems finished the night one seat down after losing the Springfield ward by a narrow 53 votes.

But they successfully defended seats in Stechford and Yardley North, Sheldon and Perry Barr - meaning they have ten seats on the city council.

They fought a campaign on grass-roots issues like fly-tipping, street cleaning and refuse collections and called for the protection of local libraries and services.

Group leader Coun Jon Hunt said: "The night was disappointing in that we ended up with fewer seats rather than more. However our large votes in a number of wards - and successful defences - show that residents responded to our messages in areas where we got them across."

He added: "We gained the largest number of votes in the Yardley constituency by a substantial margin, keeping us in the frame to retake the constituency or its successor in 2020.

"We know we have an electoral challenge against a Labour party that remains well-organised - but we will continue to step up and take them on, especially while they remain utterly complacent about the state of the city and about the impact of their policy decisions."

A total of 10,230 Lib Dem votes were cast in the four wards compared with 8,531 for Labour.

The Lib Dems held the Yardley seat for ten years with former MP John Hemming.

However, he was one of the many Lib Dems to lose out in 2015 as he saw the seat go to Labour's Jess Phillips - with an impressive 6,595 majority.

Ms Phillips accused the Lib Dems of flawed analysis pointing out Labour doubled its majorities in two wards of Acocks Green and South Yardley.

"People in Yardley have always voted differently in local and national elections," she said.

"Look at 2014, when the Lib Dems won all the council seats, but then a year later I got the biggest majority since the war. Nonetheless, I take nothing for granted and will do all I can for the people in my constituency."

Video: Labour group celebrates at 2016 local elections

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