Nelson solicitor Sajjad Karim became the Liberal Democrats' first non-white MEP as the Government suffered its second voter backlash in three days.

Mr Karim became one of two Liberal Democrats in the North West as his party polled 335,063 votes in the region.

And the United Kingdom Independence Party, which wants to withdraw from the European Union altogether, clinched its first Euro seat in the North West by taking 247,158 votes to win a Euro Parliamentary place for John Whittaker.

But Labour - which was hit by an anti Iraq war backlash in local council elections on Thursday June 10 - and the Conservatives both suffered losses, ending the night with just three seats each, down from four and five respectively in 1999.

British National Party leader Nick Griffin, who arrived and left a count at Manchester Town Hall to jeers from protesters, failed to win a seat, although the party polled 134,958 votes.

Turnout in the North West, where voting was by postal ballot, was 41.46 per cent, about double what it was in 1999. Nationally the turnout was just 39 per cent. Burnley recorded a 50 per cent turnout.

Liberal Democrat Chris Davies said it was a great night for his party.

He said: "It is fantastic we have doubled our numbers and also elected our first Asian MEP."

Mr Karim added: "I am absolutely delighted. It is vital that we ensure there is diversity in representation because we live in a multicultural society."

Mr Whittaker said it was "a magnificent result" for the UKIP.

He said: "The British people are right behind what we are standing for. People want to draw back from the EU and we are providing a means for that to happen."

Labour MEP Gary Titley said it had been "a very disappointing" night for the party.

Tory MEP Den Dover said: "It is not a disappointing night. There were nine seats available and we wanted four, but so did Labour, and we both came up with three."

Nationally the UKIP celebrated stunning gains while Labour and the Tories saw their support crash.

In the 10 regional results the UKIP quadrupled its tally of MEPs to 12 and collected 17 per cent of the vote, pushing the Liberal Democrats into fourth place.

The successful UKIP candidates included former TV presenter Robert Kilroy-Silk.

Labour saw support fall six points to 22 per cent while the Conservative share of the vote fell 10 points to 27 per cent.

The Liberal Democrats saw their share of the vote edge up two points to 15 per cent.

At the end of the night, the Conservatives had 25 seats, Labour 17, UKIP 12, the Liberal Democrats 11 and the others three.

The following MEPs won the nine seats available in the North West: John Whittaker (UKIP), Terry Wynn (Lab), Arlene McCarthy (Lab), Gary Titley (Lab), David Sumbery (Con), Robert Atkins (Con), Den Dover (Con), Saj Karim (Lib Dem), Chris Davies (Lib Dem)