Plaid Cymru accused

Police in South Wales are investigating allegations of attempted vote-rigging by Plaid Cymru in the run-up to tomorrow's local elections.

Fraud Squad officers were called in by the returning officer after about 100 applications for proxy votes were made in a key ward of the new Rhondda/Cynon/Taff authority.

It is claimed that voters who believed they were signing for postal votes were tricked into giving their votes to proxies. Tony Roberts, the returning officer, called in police after Labour complaints about the unusually high number of proxies. It is alleged that a proxy was sought for a dead voter.

The allegations involve the two-seat Penrhiwceiber ward, which sees a straight fight between Labour and Plaid Cymru.

Ann Clwyd, the Labour MP whose Cynon Valley constituency includes the council, said: "The scale of proxy applications is unprecedented." Dilys Lewis, a Plaid Cymru candidate, dismissed the claims as "absolute nonsense, total rubbish. Labour is scared it is going to lose".