Calls for an investigation into a narrow Brent Council by-election victory by the defeated candidates were dismissed by the High Court.

The court ruled the results for the Barnhill by-election, held in January 2020, were correct following a recount.

The initial vote saw Labour candidates Gaynor Lloyd and Mansoor Akram narrowly elected in front of their Conservative counterparts Kanta Mistry and Stefan Voloseniuc.

Ms Mistry and Mr Voloseniuc alleged 100 votes for them had been placed in the Labour pile and, had this been rectified, they would have been elected instead.

However, the court-issued recount found the original result had been “declared correctly”, with Ms Lloyd and Mr Akram “duly elected”.

It also noted Brent Council chief executive Carolyn Downs’ decision not to issue a recount on the night of the election had been vindicated by the findings.

A spokesperson for Brent Labour said: “This legal challenge should never have been brought.

“We have never doubted for a moment that Mansoor and Gaynor were correctly elected as Labour Party representatives for Barnhill ward.

“It is disappointing that this case has taken so long to resolve since the election over a year ago.

“We are glad that Cllr Lloyd and Cllr Akram can put this costly and time-consuming distraction behind them and continue to advocate for the residents of Barnhill with the mandate that was rightfully given to them.”

Following the review, the court ordered the Conservative candidates to pay the legal costs of the elected councillors, as well as costs to Ms Downs.

Brent North Conservatives have been contacted for comment.