THE size of Labour's gamble over Falkirk has been highlighted by figures which show the party received more than £2.4 million from trade unions in just three months earlier this year.

More than three-quarters of all donations to Labour came from the union movement, according to the Electoral Commission.

The biggest donor was the Unite union which contributed £772,195 between April and June.

The union is at the centre of accusations it attempted to fix the contest to select Labour's candidate to fight the next general election in Falkirk.

In response, party leader Ed Miliband has unveiled plans to end the system which sees union members automatically join the Labour Party.

The reforms have yet to be enacted and will be the subject of a special conference next spring but unions have warned the party risks losing millions of pounds.

The Tories have accused Labour of "still being dominated" by trade unions, despite promises to change.

But the figures show that Labour's donations were still dwarfed by those accepted by the Conservatives, at £4,116,006 compared to £3,136,44.

They also show that while the SNP received more than £176,000, most of the money came from public funds to help smaller parties.

When these were stripped out of the total, the party accepted just £4500 from private donors.

The two coalition parties also benefited from a unusual shared bequest of £520,000. Joan Edwards died, leaving the money to the ruling party of the day, which just so happened to be both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats.

Last night Labour accused the Conservatives of pandering to wealthy donors.

Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan said: "The Tories have raked in over £1 million from private dinners with David Cameron and senior ministers in the last quarter. And more than two-thirds of that comes from the City - the bankers and hedge fund bosses whose taxes David Cameron cut."

But the Conservatives hit back, claiming that Labour had failed to assert itself with the trade unions.

Conservative party chairman Grant Shapps said: "Despite Ed Miliband's promise of change, these independent figures prove his Labour party is still dominated by the trade unions.

"They choose the candidates, pick the leader and remain Labour's biggest donors, providing three-quarters of the party's money. Until Ed Miliband stops taking his union paymasters' cash, he will be too weak to stand up for hardworking people."

The figures, which cover donations of more than £7500, also show that financial support for the UK Independence Party (Ukip) has more than doubled to £160,000.

The LibDems raised £801,448 from donations over the three months, down from £842,710 in the first quarter of this year.