The trials of postal voting have been hailed a success, after turnout increased by 28 per cent.

The most successful boroughs were in Gateshead with a turnout of just over 57 per cent, Stevenage with a 52.9 per cent turnout, and in Havering, where just under half the electorate voted. Nationally, turnout stands at 35 per cent.

Havering ran a six-week promotional campaign, including leafleting and a roadshow, in conjunction with the Electoral Commission, to explain the new system to voters.

The result saw a partial swing to the Conservatives but the biggest beneficiary of the postal vote was the independent Residents' Association which came second without the benefit of the sophisticated campaigns run by the three main parties.

As a result the council remained under no overall control.

Havering Council's returning officer and chief executive, Harold Tinworth, hailed the experiment as a success.

"Tonight's result shows the turnout was over 45 per cent in the borough," he said.

"This is a positive increase compared with the 34.7 per cent turnout in the last local elections held in 1998 and amongst the best results in recent years."

Other trials elsewhere proved less successful. Electronic voting, where voters use a machine at the ballot box, increased turnout by five per cent.

On-line voting produced a turnout increase of just one per cent.

Turnout in areas with no "electoral modernising" trials increased by four per cent across the country, prompting the Electoral Commission to urge caution before declaring the alternative methods a complete success.

Efforts must also be made to prevent electoral fraud, the commission warned.

Questions are being asked in the borough of Pendle, where as many as 1,000 postal votes were allegedly not sent to voters.

A household in Rochdale reportedly received 25 ballot papers for yesterday's vote.