SUPPORTERS are flooding back to Clacton’s Labour Party in the face of Ukip defections to the Conservatives, it has been claimed.

Branch chairman George Taylor said more than 30 people have joined the party in the past month and the number of members has trebled to almost 500 since the General Election in June.

Mr Taylor said he believes people have decided to join Labour after watching a series of former Ukip councillors quit the party to join the ruling Conservatives at Tendring Council.

The number of Ukip councillors in Tendring has dwindled from 22 following the council elections in 2015 to just eight.

The Conservatives have increased their number from 23 to 32.

Mr Taylor said: “The people of Tendring are sickened - they didn’t vote for a Conservative-controlled council.

“On the doorstep voters are telling us they had voted for Ukip because they wanted an alternative to mainstream politicians who they saw as all the same. Now they find their precious votes have been gifted to the Tories.

“Voters have been given false promises and their trust has been stolen - they are coming home to Labour.”

Mr Taylor said nationally, Labour has seen its membership rise by 150,000 since June.

He said: “The people of Tendring feel let down and we believe they deserve to be served much better - they deserve real change.”

“Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party has given people a real choice along with hope for the future and it is inspiring more and more people to become involved in politics.”

Despite there being just four in the Labour group on Tendring Council, Mr Taylor believes the party in the “council in waiting”.

Conservative group leader Neil Stock said: “The Conservative Party in Clacton has been going from strength to strength.

“We finally got a Conservative MP back and Giles Watling is proving popular.

“I wasn’t even aware there was an active Labour Party in Clacton, so I’m delighted to hear it is.

“They don’t have a single councillor in Clacton, so they have got a long way to go if they think they can run the council.

“Good luck to them.”