THERE has been a huge surge in people signing up to vote in the run-up to the by-election.

Since September 11, 1,357 extra voters have registered across the Tendring district, taking the total electorate to 110,648 – of whom about 70,000 are in Clacton.

The deadline to register for the by-election was Tuesday night.

Returning officer and Tendring Council chief executive, Ian Davidson, said it had been a mammoth effort getting everything ready in time.

“From a standing start, we had to find 57 polling stations, staff and 200 counting staff in just four weeks,” he said.

“There has been a massive surge in voters registering for the election. The spotlight is on Clacton, but we also have the opportunity to highlight what’s going on here – our £36million sea defences and our proposals to address the issues in Jaywick.

“Staff have been diverted from other areas to deal with the election, but not from those projects – the truth is they are too important.”

Retired staff have been brought in to help with the elections and some council employees have even cancelled holidays and worked weekends to deal with the extra workload. Essex County Council staff have also been brought in to help with the Brightlingsea county council by-election.