CIVIC Centre officials today insisted that the borough's e-voting experiment was running smoothly despite some voters having difficulty.Regular computer user Bob Campbell, of Henley Road, planned to vote online once the experiment was unveiled.

CIVIC Centre officials today insisted that the borough's e-voting experiment was running smoothly despite some voters having difficulty.

Regular computer user Bob Campbell, of Henley Road, planned to vote online once the experiment was unveiled.

But all his attempts ended in frustration.

"I spent about an hour trying to vote, but everytime I got to the final frame and was asked to confirm my vote the screen froze.

"I called the help desk and they said there must be something wrong with my computer or I was doing it wrong.

"My computer is quite powerful enough for this – and while I don't claim to be an expert I've booked ferry and airline tickets online and never had any problems."

In frustration Mr Campbell decided to vote by phone. "That was fine, no problem at all. If I'd known how easy that would be I wouldn't have spent so long trying the computer!"

Former Conservative councillor Paul West found the opposite problem when he tried to vote by phone on Thursday morning.

"I couldn't get the line at all, it was impossible to get through. I logged on to the website instead and got straight through – but the phone problem was not a good advert for the system," he said.

Council officials insisted the system was working well and were unaware of any serious hitches.

"There was a very small problem with the server today which we had one call about and was quickly sorted out – but we haven't been aware of any other problems at all," said a council spokesman.

"We remain very pleased by the response to the e-voting experiment," he added.

nIs e-voting the way to attract more people to take part in elections? Write to: Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk