VOTES from the Ribble Valley and Lake District have been sent to election staff at Burnley Borough Council by the Royal Mail.

The Royal Mail has already put "special procedures" in place to ensure the votes intended for South Lakeland and Ribble Valley councils are returned to their correct destinations. A spokesman for Burnley Council said the number of votes involved were not significant.

But critics of the all-postal election say it is another example of a flawed system.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "The votes mis-delivered had been wrongly posted in the A envelopes, rather than the B."

But Pendle's Lord Tony Greaves, who spoke against government plans to include the North West in the all-postal pilot, called it a "shambles". He added: "It sounds like they were shoved in a box for Burnley because someone didn't know where they should be sent."