Thousands of voters in Mid Sussex have been puzzled by unexpected names on papers which dropped on to their doormat.

And today they were asked to ignore the printing mistake on electoral forms.

The forms are sent out each year so that those who qualify are registered for general election and council voting.

Heather Stuart, of Mid Sussex Council's electoral registration office, said: "A technical hitch in the printing of this year's electoral forms has meant some residents will have received forms with superfluous names pre-printed on them.

"This is because of an error made by the outside contractor during the printing of the forms. The information held at the council offices is correct."

The councils says anyone with superfluous names on their form is asked to cross the names out, check the other details contained on the form, sign it, and return it in the pre-paid envelope supplied.

Anyone concerned about the mistake can ring the electoral registration office on 01444 477003 to confirm registration details for their property.

The Mid Sussex Council district covers more than 100,000 people in the area between Crawley and Brighton, including the towns of Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, and East Grinstead.

The forms are used to draw up the voting cards which people take along to polling stations on election nights.

The details on the forms are available for public inspection both at the council and local libraries.

The forms were sent to 99,000 electors in Mid Sussex, and delivered to 55,000 homes.

The council has been inundated with calls from people since the forms were sent out last Friday.

A spokesman in the electoral roll department of the council said: "It is not affecting every form. But the phones have been so busy that we have not kept a tally.

"We have had a lot of calls since the forms hit the doormats. But most people have been OK about it."

The fault is believed to be happened during the transfer of information from council records.

But the council stressed that its own records were accurate.