A DISABILITY group is urging council chiefs to include its members when choosing future polling stations after a damning survey showed major access problems.

Darlington Association on Disability (DAD) carried out its investigation when the nation went to the polls on June 7, and problems were found in all 38 visited in the Darlington borough. The sample surveyed represented 70 per cent of the stations run by Darlington Borough Council, and 14 had no means of access for wheelchair users, which the group say is "just not acceptable".

While many stations had a large print copy of the ballot paper on show, the survey found these were mostly in inappropriate places, making them useless.

"There was not one polling station that did not have one or two problems for either accessing the building or the facilities inside," said Gordon Pybus, chairman of the access interest group.

However, he did say the staff at the stations were very welcoming and helpful.

Mr Pybus put the 100 per cent figure of problems in context of national polls by the charity Scope in 1972, which showed a problem at 88 per cent of stations, and in 1997, where the figure was 94 per cent. "I feel it's denying people the fundamental right to take part in a democratic occasion," he said.

"Everyone has a right to vote, and vote in person. The postal votes, like they have proved in America, are unreliable and people can change their mind right up until they cast their vote.

"I hope next time, when they are picking locations and setting them up, that they turn to organisations like DAD to help them get it right."

A council spokesman said: "We accept the criticisms made by DAD. We've made improvements to our polling stations for disabled access, but it's still far from what we are aiming at.

"We will be looking at all polling stations and we will be looking at it with the people who use polling stations and we would be happy to have DAD on board to help us look at this problem."