Police in Bradford are investigating allegations that free food, drink and entertainment were used in the build-up to last week's local elections to swing votes.

Bradford City Council has passed on details of three separate claims of ‘treating', as the practice is known. It is illegal under the Representation of the People Act 1983, and anyone found guilty of it can be jailed for up to 12 months. West Yorkshire Police are also looking into complaints that some voters were intimidated into handing over unmarked postal voting forms in some Bradford wards.