PLAID Cymru's Hywel Williams has held on to his seat as MP for the Arfon constituency.

The Party of Wales candidate won by a comfortable margin as he secured 11,790 votes, beating second place Alun Pugh who had 8,122.

Mr Pugh congratulated Mr Willliams on a "clear and emphatic" result.

Speaking after the decleration in Caernarfon Leisure Centre, Mr Williams said: "It's been a very long campaign and one that very many people in Arfon have taken part in.

"It's a tribute to them that we won.

"I'd like to thank the people of Arfon for putting their trust in me, to fight for their interests.

"There's a huge amount of work to do in combating policies of austerity and certainly to ensure that the Welsh Assembly gets proper funding, and that enough of that funding comes to North Wales."

Mr Williams was elected MP for the Arfon constituency, which covers a stretch of northern Gwynedd which includes Bangor and Caernarfon, in 2010.

Prior to that, he was MP for the Caernarfonshire seat from June 2001 onwards.

Returning officer Dilwyn Williams confirmed the turnout was 66.51 per cent, with 26,932 of the 40,492 eligible voters heading to the polls.

The Arfon vote in full:

Anwen Barry, Conservative 3,521

Kathrine Jones, Socialist Labour 409

Alun Pugh, Labour 8,122

Mohammed Shultan, Liberal Democrats 718

Simon Wall, UKIP 2,277

Hywel Williams, Plaid Cymru 11,790