Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was savouring fresh gains yesterday after a second round of local elections, including a historic win in his native Milan.

His centre-right People of Freedom party captured eight more provinces to add to the haul it won in the first round, recapturing Milan for the first time in decades, according to virtually complete results published yesterday.

"The left has had a new, resounding defeat," said an exultant Mr Berlusconi late on Monday.

"Before these elections, the PDL governed five million people in its provinces," he said. "Today it governs more than 21 million."

For Mr Berlusconi, it was a welcome respite after weeks fending off embarrassing allegations about his private life, which he has repeatedly attributed to a "subversive" campaign against him.

The centre-left, for its part, managed to hang on to its traditional bastions of Turin, Bologna, Florence and Bari.

Over the two rounds of voting, in those provinces that were up for re-election, the centre-right won 34 in total - an increase of 25 - leaving the centre-left with just 28.

Italy's provinces fall between the larger-scale regional authorities and the smaller-scale "communes".

In the city authorities, where councillors traditionally have more power, the centre-left did better, but they still lost nine councils in cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants.