PIONEERING machinery which will electronically count the votes in three council elections was unveiled in County Durham this week.

Data Research Services (DRS), which is behind the technology, demonstrated it at the Civic Centre in Chester-le-Street, one of the areas involved in the electronic count.

Along with Derwentside and Wear Valley District Councils, Chester-le-Street District Council is conducting an all-postal ballot in next month's elections.

The votes for all three will be fed into DRS scanners, and the count will be conducted at a central location in Stanley.

With a combined electorate of around 160,000, the three areas are the first to opt for an all-postal and e-counted election as part of a Government drive to encourage more people to vote.

The electronic count is expected to be much faster and more accurate than counting the votes manually, with the machinery capable of processing 7,500 ballot papers per hour.

Partnership members are likely to announce their respective results just after 9pm next Thursday.

The equipment works by scanning a unique bar code on each ballot paper then assigning the vote to the relevant ward or parish.

Where there is doubt over the voter's intent, an image is saved for on-screen checking by the returning officer, who then enters the vote or the reason for the paper's rejection into a database.

Under the pilot scheme, the number of council staff taking part in the count will be reduced from 230 to 27, with support from 15 DRS staff.

Mike Bonser, returning officer at Derwentside District Council, said: "Not only is an all-out postal ballot and electronic count unique, but this is the first time three authorities have agreed to work on such a project - two firsts."

Mick Waterson, Chester-le-Street council's returning officer, said: "Electronic counting supports postal voting and we are looking forward not only to a greater turnout, but also greater efficiency, while at the same time working in partnership with other authorities."

Milton-Keynes based DRS was awarded the e-counting contract after successfully carrying out the UK's first entirely e-counted ballot in the 2000 London Assembly and mayoral elections.