CALLS for a re-run of the contest to defend Dr Brian Iddon's Bolton South-east seat at the next general election are to be taken to the top.

Kevin Meagher lost out to London barrister Yasmin Qureshi by 17 votes in the contest last August but claims there were problems with postal voting.

He is unhappy with a probe by regional Labour Party bosses, triggered after local Bolton party branches complained, and is now exercising his right to ask the party's National Executive Committee to investigate.

Mr Meagher alleged that because ballot papers went out a week late, some party members who went on holiday may have been denied a vote.

He claimed that while 119 people had applied for a postal vote, 144 ballot postal papers were printed, of which only 10 were issued as emergency postal votes.

Mr Meagher, the Bolton South-east constituency's party secretary, demanded to know what had happened to the "spare" forms.

Labour's regional organiser, Andy Smith, conceded that the postal votes of three people were not counted, two because they were wrongly deemed to be in arrears with membership fees and another because a signature could not be verified.

His report said it was normal for surplus ballot papers to be printed in case papers were lost or emergency ballot papers needed to be issued.

It said 17 people were issued with emergency postal votes and that the remaining seven ballot papers had been accounted for.

The report added that although postal votes were sent out three days late, with the postal strike blamed, no votes were returned after the closing date.

In a letter responding to the claims, the party's regional director, Anna Bunt, said the result should stand and that she was confident there were no missing ballot papers.

She added that three disputed votes "could not have made any material difference to such a comfortable majority of seventeen".

But Mr Meagher said: "Many of the points I raised have been conceded, including the fact that there were more ballot papers in circulation than members and that some members lost their entitlement to vote due to procedural cock-ups.

"But the report simply doesn't answer all the questions I and many other members have repeatedly raised. I am therefore asking for a more in-depth investigation by the National Executive Committee to get to the bottom of this.

"Transparency and accountability are the key ingredients to a well-run election but both are missing here."

Ms Qureshi could not be contacted, but has previously declined to comment on the issue. Dr Iddon, who has been the constituency MP since 1997, has said he will retire at the next general election.