VOTERS in a key North-East by-election have been sent unusable ballot papers, officials said last night.

Hundreds of postal ballot papers have been sent to people eligible to cast their vote in Chester-le-Street's Chester North Ward by-election.

But council officers said that in some cases, the names and addresses of electors have been transposed with the returning officers' details.

Consequently, people's addresses appear on the outside of the ballot paper, instead of the inside, when posted.

Yesterday Chester-le-Street District Council said it had sent letters to residents to notify them of the error.

A council spokesman said: "It is a printing error. It has only occurred on some of the papers, but we want people to vote and not turn a blind eye and chuck the paper away.

"Obviously, we want people to feel their votes are confidential. We have had about three or four papers brought to our attention, but there might be more."

The by-election has whipped up strong feeling in Chester-le-Street, as the BNP has put forward a candidate, 36-year-old computer specialist Scott Morrison.

At the beginning of this week, church leaders from varying religions took the rare move of issuing a joint statement urging people not to vote for the extreme-right party.

The Bishop of Jarrow, the Right Reverend John Pritchard, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Newcastle and Hexham, the Right Reverend Ambrose Griffiths, the chairman of the Newcastle District of the Methodist Church, the Reverend Leo Osborn, and the moderator of the Northern Province of the United Reformed Church, the Reverend Peter Poulter, all added their names to the statement.

They urged people to vote for "candidates whose policies aim to build a just and caring society" and to view with suspicion all election literature based on "distorted fact and misinformation".

The statement comes days after trade unions, religious, community and political groups set aside their opinions to form a "Chester-le-Street Unites Against BNP" group.

The Chester North by-election was a result of the death of Councillor Keith Lambert, in June, and is also being contested by Conservative candidate Beatrice Bainbridge, Labour party candidate Paul Ellis and Liberal Democrat George Gardner.

* Anyone with a faulty voting card can ring the freephone number 0800 0929 740.