A COUNCIL has hailed a postal ballot for a by-election a success - despite a spelling error which forced the reprint of thousands of papers.
Labour candidate David Holding was elected councillor for the Edmondsley and Waldridge ward of Chester-le-Street, District Council. He polled 628 votes, followed by Liberal Democrat Russel Has-well with 537 votes and Conservative Mark Proud with 324 votes.
A district council spokes-man said the ballot had gone well.
The mistake, spotted on forms after they were delivered to homes of voters in the villages of Edmondsley and Waldridge, had the Conservative Party candidate wrongly listed as standing for the Conservation Party.
But letters notifying residents of the misprint had been sent to voters in the neighbouring communities.
New forms for all the all-postal ballot were printed on coloured paper and were delivered to the 3,900 electorate in time for the by-election.
A council spokesman said: "Despite the criticism of postal voting, we have got a far greater turnout than by other means.
"The turnout for the ward amounted to 37.9 per cent, which for a by-election is an excellent result."
The by-election filled the vacancy for the seat created by the resignation of Labour councillor John Adey.
The state of the council remains unchanged following the poll, with Labour holding 29 seats, Conservatives one seat and Independents four seats
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