PLANS by Labour to increase the turn-out at local elections in May have been blocked by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats because of fears of security.

A pilot scheme in which residents in six wards would have only been able to vote by post was thought to be a costly scheme and open to abuse.

The plans, which needed cross party support, were blocked at Thursday's full council meeting following Home Office attempts to try to increase turn-out at elections by 50 per cent.

The scheme was to be piloted in Cathall, Cann Hall, Larkswood, Endlebury, Lea Bridge and Chapel End wards. Each party gained a stronghold in two of each of those wards at the last election.

Conservative leader Geoff Walker said: "We feel the process that the officers are proposing will be costly because slips would have to be sent out and this is at a time when the council is short of funds.

"We also feel the process is wide open to abuse. With no check on registration people could get their hands on ballot papers and abuse the system.

"There is also no confidence that the postal system would cope sufficiently well to handle a potential 48,000 ballot slips, as was seen during the problems of postal voting at the general election."

Council leader Tony Buckley highlighted how turn-out at the last election in 1998 had continued to fall with only a 34 per cent turn-out, compared with 44 per cent at the 1994 elections.

"I am very disappointed that the two opposition parties put more effort into petty party political considerations than acting in the interests of increased voter participation," he said.

"Pilot projects in other parts of the country have shown marked voter turn-out where postal voting is applied, and the Conservatives' concerns about fraud have not been borne out by the Local Government Association, which has rejected this allegation.

"One of the wards that we were proposing to use in this scheme was my own Lea Bridge ward, which if I lost as a result of a bigger turn-out, would not bother me because it would demonstrate the views of more people in the area.

"I am therefore saddened that as a result of their action in blocking this pilot initiative Waltham Forest will not be able to enjoy the benefits of increased voting in six wards of the borough. They should be ashamed of themselves."