ANGRY voters were left queuing outside a Swindon polling station just minutes before ballot boxes closed, in scenes which one woman described as “more like the third world”.

The Tawny Owl pub in Abbey Meads was besieged by voters late on Thursday evening, anxious to cast their ballots for both the General and local council elections.

It is uncertain whether anyone in the queue was unable to vote, but according to Megan Twisk from Redhouse, when her partner Ian had cast his ballot at 9.45pm, there was a line of people stretching out of the door.

“It was getting very ugly,” said the business manager from Barcote Close, who had placed her vote an hour earlier after making a second trip to the polling station.

“The queue was still out of the car park. I cannot imagine how many people had given up on seeing the queues. People were extremely angry.”

David Wright from Oakhurst was another disgruntled voter who is planning to complain to the Electoral Commission.

He said he was appalled at what he calls the bad organisation which led to huge queues at the polling station.

“I have never missed an opportunity to vote,’’ said David, 68, who made three trips to the pub to vote. His daughter and her partner experienced similar problems.

“The queue was out into the road and we couldn’t get into the pub car park. All the roads were choc-a-bloc.

“We got ushered into the polling station which had four stations in a little room like a Granny’s front room. There was just not enough room.

“One of the tellers had no one to attend to while they were still queuing outside.’’ David explained that the biggest problem was that there were four separate polling station in one, hosting voters from Moredon, Haydon Wick and Oakhurst.

Megan agreed asking why local schools were not used as polling stations instead: “The whole thing was a disgrace. I went away at 6.30pm and came back at 9pm to find things were even worse.

“I am disgusted that many dozens of people may have been disenfranchised if they couldn’t cast their votes before the ten o’clock deadline.

“Not only is it madness to have everyone vote from the same small polling station, but it was so badly organised that no one knew the queues should have been specific for their area, making the endless queues pointless.

“This is supposed be a modern democracy.

“What I witnessed on Thursday evening was more like the third world or images from Iraq.”