Jeremy Corbyn has claimed local election results have left Labour "well placed" to win the next general election despite the party's failure to capture key targets from the Tories.

A mixed set of results left both Labour and the Tories claiming success, with the Conservatives holding on to "crown jewel" authorities in London including Wandsworth.

In a video message, Mr Corbyn said: "In London we have achieved the best result since 1971, missing out on winning the flagship Tory borough of Wandsworth by a whisker.

"We are well placed to fight and win the next general election whenever it comes."

For Labour, despite the ongoing row over anti-Semitism, analysis suggested the two main parties were neck-and-neck overall in terms of national vote share.

In the last of the 150 results declared, Labour's sweep of 42 of the 45 seats in Tower Hamlets also represented a serious defeat for Aspire, the party backed by disgraced former mayor Lutfur Rahman, which won no seats.

But ex-home secretary Jacqui Smith said "banging on" about progress in the capital risked creating the impression that Labour was a "London-centric party which doesn't understand or care about the seats needed" to win an election.

Ukip suffered a bloodbath, with dozens of councillors culled and its own general secretary comparing the party with the Black Death.

The Liberal Democrats enjoyed success, ousting the Tories in Richmond upon Thames in south-west London - leader Sir Vince Cable's back yard - and neighbouring Kingston, while a more unexpected victory came for the party in South Cambridgeshire.

For the Prime Minister - just days after suffering the resignation of home secretary Amber Rudd and amid ongoing difficulties over Brexit - the results will come as a relief despite the loss of scores of councillors.

On a visit to Wandsworth she praised campaigners' efforts in seeing off a Labour challenge which had seen the streets flooded with activists, including members of the Corbyn-backing Momentum campaign.

"Labour thought they could take control, this was one of their top targets and they threw everything at it, but they failed," said the Prime Minister.

Labour said that tight results in four Wandsworth wards meant it missed out on victory by just 141 votes.