MORE than 2,000 voters are getting new ballot papers in the next few days after a council mix-up over a new postal poll was discovered days before elections next week.

Wear Valley District Council has apologised to votors in Wolsingham for a mistake in their parish council voting slips.

Letters explaining the error were sent out yesterday from the Civic Centre, in Crook, and new ballot papers will follow.

The 200 people who have already sent in their list of chosen candidates will be asked to vote again using different coloured sheets.

All votes have to be received by the council's returning officer by election day, May 1.

The original papers asked electors to choose 11 members of Wolsingham Parish Councillors from the 12 candidates listed.

But boundary changes since the last election have meant that one seat is reserved for a representative from the village of Thornley, and this is uncontested.

A council spokesman said yesterday: "This means that ten councillors will be chosen from 11 people standing instead of 11 from 12.

"It is our mistake and we have apologised and asked people to destroy the original papers.

"Those sent in already will be destroyed and people are being asked to vote again."

Parish councillor Vere Shuttleworth said: "I accept that this should not have happened, but it has and it is being put right.

"My concern is that some people may have already sent in their votes and gone away. Their votes will be lost if they are not back in time."

Councils across the country have switched to postal ballot for the first time next week in an effort to beat voter apathy.

Wear Valley, Derwentside and Chester-le-Street will operate an "e-counting" system through the use of bar codes, rather than using people to physically thumb through piles of ballot papers.

They were among 41 councils nationally who put in successful bids to take part in a pilot experiment.