COUNCIL chiefs say they will be looking into the idea of setting up polling booths in new places after a successful experiment.

For the first time in Warrington, a polling booth was placed in a supermarket during Thursday's Fairfield and Howley by-election.

The by-election was won by Labour Party candidate Linda Dirir, who polled 1,101 votes against Lib Dem John Ault with 915 and Peter Beattie, Independent Labour, who got 208 votes.

Turnout at the booth in the Late Shop on Padgate Lane was 35 per cent - more than seven per cent up on the average turnout for the whole ward.

Council Chief Executive Steven Broomhead said: "We had an exit survey outside the store on both voters and non-voters and the results were very encouraging.

"People found it convenient to be able to shop at the same time as voting and it's fair to say it did have some effect on encouraging the turnout.

"We need to evaluate all the comments made. We will be doing that in the next few weeks and will be looking to possibly extend this experiment into other parts of the town."

The by-election was called after the death of veteran Labour councillor George Syers.

He added: "We have been very encouraged by the success of this scheme and want to share our findings with other local authorities. There is a good chance that in the future we will be trying other different approaches."

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