Bradford Council has apologised to residents in Bingley who have received two postal voting papers.

The voting forms had landed on the doorsteps in the BD16 area yesterday morning in readiness for the local elections which are taking place on May 3.

But a number of recipients were concerned to find they had been sent duplicate forms.

Robin Owens, a former Lord Mayor of Bradford, said he was one of the recipients.

“I was confused to receive two. I checked both voting papers and as far as I can see they are identical; even down to the registration numbers.

“They are exactly the same.

“I have been in touch with Councillor David Heseltine to ask if I can still use one of them because I was unsure, but I am told I can.

“He told me he had heard of at least three others who had received them and was liaising with Shipley Conservative Office to find out what had happened. I expect the returning officer will know about this now because she is the one answerable to the duplication.”

Mr Owens said he has already filled in one of the forms and will destroy the other one.

Another Bingley resident, who did not wish to be named, contacted the Telegraph & Argus to tell us she too had received two voting papers.

She said: “I checked with the electoral services office at Bradford Council. They said they had been having a problem in that voters in the BD16 area are receiving two voting papers.

“They assure me that they have procedures in place to ensure one one can vote twice.

“It is still quite worrying.”

Bradford Council has responded saying officers had been made aware of the duplication but said there is no need to worry about people being able to vote more than once.

Kersten England, Bradford Council chief executive and returning officer for the Bradford District, said: “We are aware of an error affecting postal votes in the Bingley Ward, which has meant that some voters have received two identical postal vote packs. Measures are already in place to ensure that no more than one vote per elector can be accepted, even if more than one postal vote pack is completed and returned.

“We’re sorry about any confusion this may have caused. Anyone who has received two packs should only complete and return one of them.

“The other one should be shredded or disposed of in a way that means it cannot be used.”

There has been no reports of duplicate postal vote forms being posted in other parts of the district.