West Suffolk Council has reassured voters that all eligible votes were counted on Friday for the Suffolk County Council election, after one division appeared to have more than 900 rejected ballots.

In the declared results for the Tower division on Friday, 932 spoilt ballots were reported - considerably more than would normally be seen.

However, following speculation over the weekend and concerns raised, the authority has confirmed that 864 of those were only "rejected in part".

That is because Tower is a two-seat division, meaning voters could choose two candidates - but those 864 were instances where only one vote was cast.

The authority has confirmed those single vote cards were counted.

A spokesman from the authority said: "We want to reassure residents and those that voted in the Tower division election for Suffolk County Council that the originally declared result was right and that all valid votes were counted and included.

"The reference to 864 ballot papers ‘rejected in part’ on the original declaration included the recorded number of instances in which a voter had chosen not to use their second permitted vote as the Tower division has two vacancies – leaving the second vote blank.

"However, their vote for a single candidate was included and counted.

"Therefore, the number of votes recorded for each candidate is correct on the original declaration of result.

"We have updated the rejected votes section of the declaration of results to make this clear and apologise for any confusion caused.”