HOURS of private talks over who controls Worcester City Council took place today - with all three political parties unable to reach a deal.
The authority's managing director Sheena Ramsey has been locked in tense negotiations with the Conservative, Labour and Green Party leaders for more than five hours to try and end 10 days of deadlock.
This newspaper can reveal how all three parties have agreed to reconvene once again tomorrow morning, with the clock ticking down to tomorrow's Annual Council meeting at 7pm.
It means all three parties have a frantic day ahead of them, with the result completely up in the air as of today.
The crunch talks were arranged after Worcester Green Party, which has two of the city's 35 council seats, insisted it would not use its 'king maker' status to back either a Tory or Labour leadership.
We exclusively revealed how Green Councillor Louis Stephen, newly-elected to the Battenhall ward, sent both major parties an open letter calling for an unusual power-sharing deal featuring a cabinet split "50/50" with Conservative and Labour members.
Tory Councillor Marc Bayliss, the city's leader, has already said he is willing to take the dramatic step but over the weekend Adrian Gregson, who runs the Labour group, chose to attack Conservative policies and urged a Lab-Green deal.
Today, a city council spokesman said: "Sheena Ramsey was present in the talks, and no conclusion has been reached - it will recommence in the morning."
The talks ended shortly before 3pm and were said to be polite, but they are some way off any sort of conclusion - if indeed one can be reached.
It comes as a former Conservative cabinet member took a swipe at the Greens by labelling their hopes of a three-party deal "irresponsible".
Francis Lankester, who spent 13 years on the authority before losing his seat in 2012, said the Greens are seeking to "avoid making hard choices" by not backing one side.
He said: "The Greens are playing opportunistic and irresponsible games - they refuse to take responsibility.
"Anyone who truly has the interests of our city at heart will sit-down, negotiate properly including an in-depth look at the council's finances, and sign up to a programme ether for one or preferably two years to give the city stability."
Mr Lankester's comments, left on our website, come after several activists from all three parties made remarks on social media showing how tense the situation has become.
Richard Morris, a Labour Party member, called the Green Party's open letter "bizarre" on Twitter while fellow activist Ceri Stalker, who stood for Labour in Bedwardine, said of a three-party deal: "I really hope this is not what we get in Worcester."
Several Green activists have been pushing for a Rainbow Coalition for the city online while Councillor Chris Mitchell, the city's deputy leader, left a message on Twitter expressing his frustration, saying "vote green, get red".
If no deal can be reached tomorrow, the Conservatives are still the largest party with 17 seats compared to 16 from Labour.
That means if both Greens still refuse to back either side, a minority Tory administration could be formed and Councillor Bayliss would stay on as leader - although it would be at the mercy of any Labour-Green veto on policies.
The prospect of that instability is what has prompted the talks.
* ELECTIONS 2016: Come together and strike a deal, urges MP Walker
* ELECTIONS 2016: Could a blue, red and green Rainbow Coalition run Worcester City Council?
* More stories about the election results and Worcester's post-election fallout can be viewed HERE
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