DEFEATED MP David Ward has submitted a report to the elections watchdog alleging serious wrongdoing by political opponents in the run up to polling day and on the day itself.

The former Bradford East MP - whose lost by 7,000 votes to Labour's Imran Hussain in May - is carrying out his own investigation into claims of malpractice, which he intends to pass to police.

The Liberal Democrat has told the Electoral Commission, which supervises the electoral system, he believes people arriving at some polling stations were told who to vote for, postal votes were collected before voters had fully completed them and election leaflets were distributed without any indication of who had published them.

He claims large groups of people were outside stations handing out leaflets "aggressively” and says some people arrived at polling stations only to be told they were recorded as having already voted.

Mr Ward, who said his complaints were not "sour grapes", blamed Labour Party supporters for the wrongdoing.

But a Labour spokesman dismissed the claims, saying: "These allegations are groundless, they are complete rubbish from a man who lost by over 7,000 votes."

Mr ward said: "It is my intention to work with the local community over the next few months to provide statements substantiating and corroborating the claims of misbehaviour referred to in this report.”

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In response to the allegations, Detective Inspector Ian Lawrie of West Yorkshire Police said: "We have not received an allegations of this nature from Mr Ward.

"West Yorkshire Police takes allegations of breaches of electoral law very seriously and currently has several ongoing active enquiries into potential breaches, as publicised in the media."

A Bradford Council spokesman added: "The Council has not been informed that Mr Ward or any other candidate has submitted concerns/complaints to the Electoral Commission, but obviously we cannot comment while the Electoral Commission may be looking into these matters.

"The Council always works closely with the Police and the Electoral Commission on any election matters."

A spokesman for the Electoral Commission said it had received Mr Ward's comments.

"All of the feedback that we receive from candidates will be considered carefully and will feed into our work on elections in the future."