The election of a Bradford Tory councillor is being investigated following claims from within his own party that he influenced the vote.

Conservative group leader Margaret Eaton has received at least two letters from her own party members demanding the expulsion of Councillor Intkhab Alam.

One of them is from a fellow Tory candidate in the ward, Mohammed Sadiq, who alleges Coun Alam persuaded supporters to use only one of their three votes so he could edge ahead of his colleagues in the poll.

Coun Alam, who denies all the allegations, was the only Conservative to be elected in the Great Horton ward where Mr Sadiq also stood.

He received 1,640 votes and finished in second place to Labour, winning three years in office.

One is from Mr Sadiq, who polled 755 votes, the other from Ilyas Khan, co-director of membership at Bradford and Shipley Conservative Campaign Centre.

Mr Sadiq's letter says: "Intkhab has ran a dirty campaign not against the Labour party but against his fellow Conservative colleagues... which is totally unacceptable. He should be thrown out of the party full stop!"

He also alleges that Coun Alam had taken ballot papers and filled them in himself and had helped to get people registered to vote at addresses where they did not live.

Mr Sadiq told the T&A he now wants the election in the ward to be held again.

"I was there when they were counting and I saw the marks put only in his name and not for any other candidates," he said.

"I feel quite strongly because it is not fair - we should have been acting like a team.

"I would like to see a by-election."

Mr Khan has also called for the councillor's expulsion in his letter, demanding a "full investigation into the conduct of Mr Alam in this election".

When asked about the correspondence, Mr Khan said: "It is not something that we can't sort out within the party.

"In the end it is up to Margaret, it depends how she writes back to my reply.

"If she says he is a Conservative, we have to deal with that and get on with it."

When contacted by the Telegraph & Argus, Coun Alam denied all the allegations.

He said: "The only thing I can say is that they are false allegations made against me because I won.

"Nobody else has got in touch with me about these allegations."

Councillor Eaton said any evidence she has received had been passed on to the returning officer, the Council's acting chief executive Philip Robinson, to investigate.

Mr Robinson is also investigating a complaint made by Great Horton Labour Councillor the Reverend Paul Flowers which relates to allegations of "electoral malpractice" against Coun Alam.

"There is no way that I or my party would put up with wrongdoing during the electoral process," said Coun Eaton.

"In this case it is one voice against another and the matters raised in the letters are no different to the evidence I have already heard."

She added: "There are clearly rumblings about other people in other parties too. It is the nature of all-out postal voting that there are allegation and counter-allegation.

"But it would be inappropriate for anybody to take action without proof or evidence."

However, Coun Eaton said all party members were warned before the election that they should fight fair, and she added: "If any evidence is found, he Coun Alam will be removed forthwith. But without proof there can be no action."

Two years ago police decided to take no action against Coun Alam, then sitting in the Undercliffe ward, following allegations he helped smuggle illegal immigrants into the UK.

He was suspended as a matter of course by the Conservative group while the investigation took place although it was not considered to be a disciplinary measure.