A councillor retained the chair of a key local government committee – by a toss of the coin.

Cllr Lorna Dupre was seeking re-election as chair of the overview and scrutiny committee of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CAPCA).

The Lib Dem councillor found herself with a challenger when the Conservatives proposed Cllr Alan Sharp.

With each candidate picking up seven votes, the committee clerk remarked “that is a tie, so will have do a coin toss”.

Cllr Dupre went for heads, won the toss, and duly becomes chair.

“I am honoured to be elected chair for further year – very much done on my choice of heads or tails,” she said.

Cllr Sharp was nominated and voted through as vice chair without challenge.

Cllr Dupre tweeted later that the Conservatives had disputed the coin toss and had "apparently requisitioned a special meeting of the Combined Authority Board to seek to overturn.

"The monitoring officer told the board that the election had been properly conducted by officers".