LABOUR is poised to buck the expected national trend and make gains tonight, according to one council hopeful.

Labour's John Fahy, running for the Woolwich Riverside ward, said he expected the party to do well, despite News Shopper's “campaign” against the council's paper Greenwich Time.

He made his comments at the freezing cold London Soccerdome, Greenwich, where vote-counting is underway in a huge room resembling an aircraft hangar.

Labour's Clive Efford is strongly tipped to lose his Eltham seat to the Conservatives' David Gold tonight.

But Mr Fahy said: “People continue to be loyal to the Labour Party. We had for the first time ever people standing in queues to get to the polling station.

“We think Clive Efford will hold his seat and I believe we'll make gains in the council too.”