An investigation into claims of illegal voting in Oxford is to be held, following allegations that some students were able to vote more than once in the General Election.

In one Oxford polling station it is alleged a polling officer advised that “a quirk for students” meant that they could cast a second vote in what proved to be the closest election for decades.

The Green Party city councillor Nuala Young said she would be writing to the city’s returning officer to demand an inquiry into whether significant illegal voting took place in the two Oxford constituencies.

She said claims that students were encouraged to act illegally also needed to be urgently investigated.

Ms Young said she was shocked to read in the Oxford University student paper Cherwell that students who had already cast a vote in their home constituency by post were able to cast a vote in person in Oxford last Thursday.

She said: “How sad that our elections have become such a shambles.

“I am angry that our staff have once again made serious errors.”

Cherwell included an interview with a student at St Catherine’s College who claimed to have voted three times.

Jack Matthews, a student at St Peter’s College, Oxford, gave The Oxford Times a detailed statement about what happened when he arrived to vote at a polling station in Oxford East.

He said: “I handed in my polling cards and said that I would only be voting in the local city council elections.

“At this point the polling official said that I could vote in the General Election as well. I then explained that I had already voted by postal vote in my home constituency of South Staffordshire.

“The official replied to this by saying it was OK for students to vote twice and that it was a ‘quirk for students’.

“Slightly stunned, I replied that it would be illegal to vote twice in a General Election.

“The polling officer turned to her neighbour at the table looking very confused and replied to me that ‘no one would know’.”

Mr Matthews said he immediately contacted an election officer at Oxford City Council to express his concern.

Jeremy Thomas, the returning officer at Oxford City Council, said: “We will be seeking an account from the staff involved — and if that is true, then they will not be used on electoral duty again.”

Some confusion may have resulted from the fact that many students have dual registration when it comes to local elections.

This allows them to vote at both their student and their home addresses.

But Mr Thomas insisted: “All polling station staff received training before polling day on this issue.”