ELECTION bosses in Bolton, where 5,000 postal ballot papers failed to reach voters, have revealed that from Tuesday they will no longer be able to respond to requests for ballot papers to be re-issued and sent through the post.

Anyone who has not received one, other than the Rumworth ward where there will be polling stations, will have to call in at Bolton town hall to pick up a new voting pack.

They will have to show one form of photo identification or two forms of identification without a photograph to collect their ballot.

Inquries should be directed to the elections office on (01204) 331100 or 331107.

The last minute plans will see council staff hand-delivering replacement voting packs to areas where ballot papers never arrived.

Deliveries, to be made in the wards of Astley Bridge, Bromley Cross, Horwich North-east and Hulton, will be carried out before the end of Tuesday.

One-to-one help is also being made available for disabled people to help them get their ballot forms for the local and Euro-elections back before the close of polls at 10pm on June 10.

But Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Barbara Ronson dismissed the measures as "not nearly good enough" and said polling stations should be set up across the borough.

Electoral bosses claim they became aware over the weekend that a "significant" number of the borough's 190,000 voters had not received their ballot packs.

The admission follows earlier denials that there was a major problem in Bolton.

Peter Wilson, deputy returning officer at Bolton Council, said: "We are confident that we supplied the ballot papers for the whole of these areas to the Royal Mail. The Royal Mail confirmed this to be the case.

"It is too early to say what has gone wrong but there will need to be a full investigation with the Royal Mail."

Wendy Martin, of the Royal Mail, again insisted that the Royal Mail had delivered all the ballot papers it had received from the council.

"Since we started receiving voting packs we have highlighted the areas where we have not had packs to deliver," she said.

Under the new arrangements, voters in Rumworth will be able to walk into the polling station and claim a vote simply by giving their name and address. A declaration form will have to be signed by the voter and witnessed.

The polling stations, based at the Sure Start centre on Blackledge Street and Emmanuel Hall, Cannon Street, will be open from 9am until 5pm on Wednesday and from 7am to 10pm on Thursday.

Cllr Ronson said: "This problem started last week but they are only now taking action because chief executive Bernard Knight has just got back from his holiday.

"This is the tip of the iceberg and without postal ballots in all wards we are going to be left in an awful mess."