Postal vote fraud worry

However, Pendle peer Lord Tony Greaves has condemned the decision, made in a bid to increase turnout this June, as a recipe for fraud.

Junior Minister for Constitutional Affairs Chris Lesley revealed that the government had overruled fears that the North West was not ready for an all-postal pilot ballot.

Despite the concerns of the Electoral Commission, he added Yorkshire and Humberside and the North West two pilot schemes already announced in the North East and East Midlands.

He said the decision had been taken after careful discussion with electoral administrators in local town, county and city halls.

Chorley and Hyndburn have already boosted turnout using postal voting and he promised this would "help us to progress our electoral modernisation agenda."

East Lancashire MPs Nigel Evans, Gordon Prentice, Peter Pike, Greg Pope and Janet Anderson gave the news a varying degree of welcome.

But Lord Greaves and the leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council's Conservative group, Colin Rigby, were furious after allegations of postal vote fraud in recent years in Blackburn and Pendle.

Lord Greaves said: "I am just very angry. After what happened in Burnley, Pendle and Blackburn in recent experiments with postal voting this is a recipe for fraud. I think the Labour Party thinks it will stitch up victory for them and stop the BNP.

"I fear they may be wrong on both counts."

Rossendale and Darwen MP Mrs Anderson took the opposite view saying: "I think it makes it easier for people to vote and anything that makes it easier for people to vote is good for a healthy democracy."

Burnley MP Mr Pike said: "All the evidence in Burnley is that it encourages more people to vote and that is what we want."

Hyndburn MP Mr Pope said: "Experiments in Hyndburn showed more people and young people voted and that is what we want to see."

But Pendle MP Mr Prentice and Ribble Valley Tory Nigel Evans were more cautious in their welcome.