Three men have been quizzed by police investigating allegations of election misconduct.

They were arrested yesterday in Manning-ham, Bradford, after a complaint was lodged with officers.

After questioning they were released on police bail pending further inquiries.

The arrests followed the issue of 39,000 postal votes by Bradford Council to people who do not want to go to polling stations for the local elections next Thursday. Bradford's electorate is around 300,000.

The figure is more than double the number issued in Birmingham, where twice as many people are eligible to vote.

During last year's General Election, the Council's chief executive Ian Stewart, the returning officer, received large numbers of complaints about the misuse of postal votes. Allegations of threats and payments for ballot forms were passed on to police but an investigation lasting several months was dropped because officers said they were unable to find any significant evidence.

Most of the postal ballot forms have gone again to volatile city wards where election fever is its height. The highest number in the district - 2,500 - have gone to people in University ward, with about 14,000 voters. 2,093 have gone to electors in the Toller ward, where almost 13,000 have a vote and the unit has sent 2,007 to Little Horton, with an electorate of about 10,200.

The other 32,500 postal votes have been distrubuted among the remaining 27 wards.

The figure has risen from 19,000 in last year's General Election, mainly because of a new system where application forms for postal votes were sent to all electors .

A West Yorkshire police spokesman said: "Three people aged 50, 52 and 20 were arrested in the Hollins Road area of Manningham following an allegation of election misconduct. They were released on police bail."