Probe into 13 votes at one home

The row over postal voting deepened today amid new allegations of abuse.

A Conservative councillor in a Labour-held marginal seat is facing questions over the number of people registered to vote at properties he is involved with.

Jamshed Khan is under scrutiny from the returning officer for Bradford West after The Times discovered 13 voters registered at his six-bedroom home, all of whom have reportedly applied for postal votes. A further 12, six of whom have applied for postal votes, are registered at a derelict house he used to co-own. Mr Khan vigorouslydenied any wrongdoing but the allegations will fuel concern over the system.

Record numbers of people are expected to vote by post at the general election. About 6.5 million ballot papers started arriving at households across Britain yesterday, allowing 15.5 per cent of the electorate to begin voting. The deadline for postal vote applications is 5pm today.

The Evening Standard recently revealed that the number of applications to vote by post has risen by nearly 4,000 per cent in some of London's key marginal constituencies. The number of applications for postal votes in Hackney - where two councillors were found guilty of electoral fraud in 2003 - soared from 925 in 2001 to 36,049 this year.

An investigation by the Standard last week exposed how vulnerable the election is to vote-rigging. A number of postal ballots for constituencies across London were obtained without any apparent checks for fraud. The Crown Prosecution Service is already investigating at least 39 cases of alleged vote-rigging.