AN independent external review will investigate the problems that occurred with some Bournemouth ballot papers on polling day.

Council chief executive Tony Williams said he has commissioned a review to try and establish what went wrong in Kinson North and South and whether their systems can be improved.

The problems occurred in all nine polling stations across both wards, when it became apparent that there was a printing error on books of ballot papers for the borough council elections.

Some voters had cast votes on the wrong ballot papers before the problem was noticed and, until the problems were resolved, there was a situation where residents were allowed to vote in the general election but not the local council election.

The council tried to identify all those affected and later that day, Mr Williams himself and other senior council staff took to the streets in Kinson and West Howe to try and ensure that all those who wanted to vote in the local election could.

However, Labour campaign organiser Vic Williams told the Echo he was concerned that some polling stations closed their doors entirely for a short period and that, for this time, there would have been no record of the people that were turned away without voting in either election.

He said the Labour Party was still considering whether or not to appeal the results.

The results in both Kinson wards were close, with just 64 votes between the third and fourth placed candidates in Kinson South and 77 votes between the third and fourth placed candidates in Kinson North.

Tony Williams, returning officer and chief executive of Bournemouth Borough Council, said: "On polling day, we obtained an initial estimate of the numbers of voters affected. These are in double figures for both wards.

"We have subsequently collated all paperwork from each individual polling station and contacted all the presiding officers in the wards so we can undertake a detailed analysis of the registers with the presiding officers’ involvement.

"This is to enable us to establish an accurate figure of the numbers affected in each ward and these will be made public once they are confirmed.

“We have also commenced the preparation of a detailed chronology of the events on the day.

“I am commissioning an independent external review of the events to establish what happened, why and to seek recommendations for any changes to systems and processes to ensure there is no repeat in future.”