The Conservatives were another loser with their only seat on the council being taken by a Liberal Democrat candidate, a fate repeated with the council's only independent member.

The result means the Lib Dems now have 45 seats compared to Labour at 36 and three Greens, ending an era when no one party had enough seats for an overall majority.

It means the Lib Dems will take over the administration in the next couple of weeks.

Labour leader Coun Jan Wilson said the result was "disappointing" but accepted it.

"I think we have done good work in Sheffield, but democracy is about people expressing their views through the ballot box. Sheffield has been affected by the national position," she said.

It means Coun Paul Scriven, who was re-elected to his seat in the Broomhill ward, will take over as leader and he said: "I am absolutely delighted for the party and also for the people of Sheffield.

"They have put trust in us and we are determined to act on that trust and deliver a better Sheffield for everyone.

"We will deal with the real bread and butter issues across communities and across the city."

Big projects, such as the major scheme to rebuild the city's roads with private finance initiative money, had been supported previously and would still go ahead, he said.

But the party also intended to transfer more responsibility to neighbourhood level, allowing for decisions to be made by communities about their own future.

Within 12 months he intends to set up new "community assemblies" which would have their own budgets for items like libraries and street cleaning, allowing residents to decide about priorities and where money should be spent.

There would also be a greater emphasis on improving education in the city, something he accused previous Labour administrations of neglecting.

One of the seats lost by Labour was Hillsborough, a ward where there has been a recent controversy over plans to merge two secondary
schools.

The successful candidate in that ward was Joseph Taylor, 26, an IT worker who despite his lack of council experience was able to gain a majority of more than 1,000 votes.

Mr Taylor said: "It has been an absolutely overwhelming result. It is a reflection of people rejecting Labour at a local and national level.

"People are telling us they are fed up and the income tax hike over the 10 pence rate was the last straw for them.

"In Hillsborough people are angry about Labour's plan to close Wisewood School," he said.

One of his new colleagues is Louise McCann, a radiographer at the city's Northern General Hospital, who at 24 becomes the youngest councillor on the authority. Her decision to
stand as a councillor was a result of being "sick with the way Sheffield is being run" she said.

"It is the first time I have stood in an election," she added.

Labour MP Clive Betts turned up for the count and said: "I think it is almost any party but Labour; people are taking their frustration out.

"People are feeling their living standards are going backwards and the Government is not listening."

The Government needed to make it clear they were on the side of the public and to "battle with them" while the economy was in a fragile state.