THE political deadlock at Redbridge Council has been broken this lunchtime with the announcement from the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats that they have agreed to form a coalition administration.

Tory Cllr Keith Prince will remain council leader under the agreement, with new Lib Dem head Cllr Ian Bond as his deputy - a mirror image of the national situation between the two parties.

Both parties have asked Labour to lead the council's internal scurtiny committees, although the number of these will be reduced from eight to five to make “savings”.

One of these will be a new 'Overview' committee which will be responsible for examining policy and decisions across all of the council’s services.

Meanwhile the council’s cabinet is to be reduced in size to nine members, with seven Conservatives and two Liberal Democrats.

Cllr Prince said: “We will work together to provide a strong and stable administration through these challenging times.”

Cllr Bond said: “It was clear from the elections that people no longer trust any single party to take every decision, but want to see politicians working together.”