Police were called to a polling station in St Neots last week after a row erupted with one of the tellers and an election candidate had a rosette forcibly removed.

Details of the incident at the polling station at the Methodist Church in Berkley Street, Eynesbury, on May 5 are sketchy, but the police and an official from Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC), the authority that organised the election, were called to restore order.

James Corley, the chairman of St Neots Town Council, has confirmed that he has launched an investigation into the matter and described the incident as “really disturbing”.

“This is a very disturbing matter as interfering with the process of an election is very serious indeed. It is outrageous that anyone would behave in this manner at an election count. There are very strict rules in place and the fact that the police and the electoral officer were involved shows the seriousness of the incident.”

Cllr Corley confirmed he had met with the returning officer at HDC on Tuesday to discuss the matter and said he understood a second incident took place later in the afternoon involving an organisation who had booked a function at the same polling station.

Cllr Corley said he has since received a complaint from the group but had explained that the election process had to take precedence over other activities. He said he believed police also attended the second incident which he said had “turned nasty”.

A spokesman for HDC confirmed: “There was an incident involving tellers at this polling station and the police were called to deal with it.”

Cambridgeshire police added: “We are looking into an incident that was reported to have happened outside this polling station on May 5 to determine if any offences have been committed.”