Local election shambles as voters forced to vote out of car boot after staff locked out

Cambridge voters have been voting from the back of a car this morning (Image: Cambridge Electoral Services)

Voters in a major UK city have been forced to cast their votes from the back of a car after electoral services staff were unable to get into their polling station.

Those casting their vote at Milton Road Library in Cambridge had to do so in the boot of a Nissan Leaf this morning after staff were locked out of the venue.

Polling bosses eventually got into the library at about 8am but praised staff for allowing early voters to cast their vote for police and crime commissioner and a Cambridge City Council councillor from the hatchback.

An electoral services spokesman said: "Voters at Milton Road Library get to experience the rare sight of voting from the back of a car as we've had problems getting into the building.

It is not the first time votes have been cast from a car (Image: Getty)

"Hopefully we'll be in soon but for now our polling staff are doing a great job ensuring early voters can still cast their vote."

Officials later confirmed the actual polling station had opened and that voting had been able to continue as normal while they battled to gain entry.

The spokesman added: "The polling stations at Milton Road Library are now up and running, well done and thank you to our polling teams who remained calm and carried on."

A Cambridge City Council spokesman told the PA news agency there had been a “problem with door codes and contacting keyholders, so our staff showed great initiative and used one of their own cars as a temporary polling station for the first voters arriving after 7am”.

He said: “Our elections staff are doing a fantastic job today coordinating the local elections at 39 different locations across the city, and have a variety of back-up plans in case of any incidents, to ensure Cambridge residents can cast their votes."

It is not the first time that a polling station has operated from a car boot.

In 2021, voters in Oxford cast their ballots from a parked car as a church warden reportedly overslept and officials found themselves locked out of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies.

The usual polling station was opened later that morning.