I HAVE voted at general elections for 45 years but have never encountered such behaviour as I experienced at my polling station last Thursday.

You expect to meet a fairly enthusiastic crowd of “tellers” outside the station.

These are people who are supposed to check to see that all their canvassed voters have actually voted and, if not, arrange lifts to the polls for them to vote.

They are allowed to ask for voting card numbers but the voter is allowed to refuse them such information.

My polling station is on Roman Road but I had seen no canvassing taking place in our ward therefore there seemed to be little point in having tellers.

Nevertheless there were and two of the tellers demanded of my wife and I our numbers and were abusive when we refused to give them.

The pony-tailed man with the clipboard muttered under his breath and the woman with the short white hair gave me a one-finger salute.

She disappeared rapidly when I fetched the returning officer.

Later that day my son received a similar demand when he voted.

I do not oppose what tellers do having done the job myself in the 1970’s, but there is an etiquette in doing so that was sadly lacking at our polling station among the tellers there.

In doing so they shamed their candidate.

Such people will no doubt reappear at forthcoming council elections and I would like the various parties to appreciate that behaviour of this kind will have a more severe impact then bearing in mind that the current county councillor in my ward was elected with a majority of precisely one vote.

ANDREW HESKETH Salisbury