HUNDREDS of women in Burnley have been given dispensation from voting in person at next month's council elections -- because of the stress they would face being in close contact with male strangers at polling stations.

They will, instead, be allowed either to vote by post or by proxy on religious or cultural grounds.

The ruling by returning officer Roger Ellis comes as latest figures today reveal nearly 1,000 people in the hotly-contested Daneshouse ward have been allowed absent votes -- only 100 fewer than last year when allegations of proxy vote cheating sparked a near year-long police inquiry and questions about the proxy system in Parliament.

Today, as it appeared that absent votes were fairly equally shared among the Labour and LibDem parties fighting Daneshouse -- in sharp contrast to 1999 when the vast majority were given to LibDem campaigners -- both sides expressed satisfaction with the new tighter, system being operated by the town hall.

Proxy votes in Daneshouse this time stand at 550, but there has been a massive rise in postal vote applications -- up from 12 to 380 -- reflecting the ruling on Muslim women voters.

LibDem election agent Manzoor Hussain called for dispensation and said many women were excluded from voting because religious and cultural constraints prevented contact with men and they were not prepared to go to the ballot box because the election process was mainly administered by men.

Mr Ellis agreed that proxies called for on these grounds was acceptable and the vast rise in postal applications reflects the ruling. Labour spokesman in Daneshouse Rafique Malik said: "It is a legitimate reason for allowing an absent vote.

"Women were very stressed going to the polling stations, which in Danehouse are often very packed and busy, especially in recent years.

"There are many men hovering around and there is quite close contact which they found very upsetting."

LibDem spokesman said: "We asked for the dispensation because women were being denied their democratic right to vote. It is a good decision."

Election officers say 70 applications for proxies are being investigated. Daneshouse so far accounts for 550 of the 850 proxy applications received.

Police decided to take no action following the long inquiry.