A local authority has apologised after an administrative error in the general election process.

Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) sent a letter to voters last Friday to tell them their postal vote application had registered successfully.

But many who received the letter have now noticed that information about other voters had been printed on the reverse of their letters, including other people's names and addresses.

A spokesman for the authority said: "Unfortunately due to an administrative error, the letters were printed on both sides of the page. This meant that some applicants received a letter containing non-sensitive data, unrelated to their application on the reverse."

MBC has issued new letters to the 437 people affected, with an apology. The council is advising people to destroy the original letter if they received one.

The spokesman also confirmed: "In order to remain open and transparent, MBC has reported the incident to both the information commissioner and the electoral commission."