Eight electoral vote letters were recovered from a Bradford councillor’s home after police arrested him, a jury heard yesterday.

Jamshed Khan’s home in Russell Street, Bradford, was searched in May 2005, Leeds Crown Court was told.

A statement by PC Jenny Haigh, of Bradford Police, said she seized Bradford Council letters, dated April 26, 2005, addressed to six people.

The jury heard the letters required additional proof of residency.

Alyas Khan, 50, of Hilton Road, Bradford, was arrested in September 2005, the court heard. His house was searched and a disk recovered containing documents relating to postal votes.

Police also seized a diary and the contents of a briefcase from Mohammed Sultan’s home in Toller Lane in November, 2005. Items were also recovered by the police at the home of another Bradford councillor, Reis Khan, in Whetley Hill, Bradford, in September, 2005, the jury was told.

Mohammed Rafiq, 68, of Cecil Avenue, Little Horton, Bradford; Conservative candidate for Bradford West, Haroon Rashid, 39; Jamshed Khan, 64; Reis Khan, 39; and Sultan, 51, all plead not guilty to conspiracy to defraud Bradford Council’s electoral registration officer in the run up to the May 2005 General Election.

It is alleged they intended to harvest postal ballots and use them to vote for Rashid. Rashid, who was brought up in Bradford, but now lives in Buckinghamshire, lost by 3,026 votes. Alyas Khan has pleaded guilty to conspiracy.

The trial continues.