I WAS sorry, but not surprised, to read that the Conservative-led Hyndburn council cabinet is against a postal ballot at next year's local elections.

The fact that the European elections are on the same day, June 10, seems to me a poor reason for not repeating the successful postal ballot which resulted in an 18 per cent increase in voters across Hyndburn, surely a good thing for democracy, but maybe not for the Conservatives who historically benefit from wheeling out all their voters in a low turn-out.

The European election will be on the fairer system of proportional representation (PR) i.e. you will get some representation from the party or parties you voted for.

The sooner we get PR for our local elections too, the sooner we can break the stranglehold of the two-party system and its illusion of choice.

I realise it is against Conservative principles to accept change, but in this case democracy and freedom of choice must prevail over any other matters. People are busy, and need flexibility in how they vote. Internet voting is another possibility.

The council electoral services did an excellent job with the pilot postal vote last May and would no doubt become leaders in this procedure if they were to repeat it in the European and local elections.

IAN DIXON, Hyndburn Green Party, Sandy Lane, Accrington.