David Buckle

Preparations are in place for tomorrow's by-election, South Oxfordshire District Council chief executive David Buckle has said.

Speaking on his blog at http://henleybyelection.blogspot.com/, Mr. Buckle said his staff are dealing with an estimated 5,000 postal votes and have found 'no problems' so far.

He adds: "Polling stations are all lined up and the ballot boxes are ready. There's 78 in all -we have 78 polling stations in about 70 locations. This is because some locations have more than one polling station. The boxes get picked up tomorrow so the council offices will be a hive of activity as presiding officers come and go.
"Everything in running this election is important but getting the count right is probably top of the list. We've never used Thame Leisure Centre before so there's an element of the unknown but we're planning as best we can.
"The first main issue is going to be getting the cars with ballot boxes down the drive without being held up. We have Thames Valley Police working with us on traffic control so hopefully everything will go smoothly.
"I'm told that at the recent Crewe by-election Cheshire police set up a cordon round the count, including an armed response unit. We're a bit more laid back in Oxfordshire obviously - we have two police officers and two PCSOs on duty on the night."