A RETIRED police officer claims he was stopped from voting at the general election because Dartford Council sent him the wrong ballot form.

Three police officers escorted Pat Boyle, 45, Dartford, from the Lenderyou Court polling station, in Phoenix Place, after officials told him he could not vote.

Dartford Council denies he was sent the wrong form but says it is not planning to take further action.

Mr Boyle said: “I'm a taxpayer who has been denied my right to vote.

“I'm seething with anger.”

Mr Boyle had been suffering from a serious illness prior to the election and applied for a postal ballot, thinking he would be too ill to vote in person.

But he says the council sent him the normal polling card, rather than the postal ballot form he had asked for.

He said: “When I turned up they said my name was marked with an 'a' for absent, so I could not vote in person at the polling station.”

A council spokesman said: “The returning officers checked at the time to see if a postal vote had been sent to Mr Boyle. This was confirmed which is why he was not allowed to vote. The council is going to make no further enquiry unless Mr Boyle wishes to take it further.”