A first-time voter says he was denied his right to vote in last night’s (June 8) General Elections because his name had already been crossed off.

Oliver Finney, 18, a student at Teddington School, said he turned up to the St John’s Ambulance polling station in Park Road at about 7.30pm to find that his name had already been used by mistake for his neighbour - also named Oliver - to vote.

The sixth form student said he was completely shocked and had no idea what to do when he was told that he could not participate in his first election as an eligible voter.

Mr Finney said: “I told them my name and they looked at the list then looked at me and they said I had already voted.

“I was like 'no I definitely haven’t because I am here now – that’s my name there I can see it'.”

The registrar asked the teenager to stand to the side while they looked into the issue and made several calls.

“They were not apologetic and didn’t seem in any sort of rush to get to the bottom of it – they just really didn’t seem bothered,” Mr Finny added.

“I just wanted to have my chance to vote for the Twickenham MP”.

A study conducted by The Times and Bureau Local, showed that new voters could decide the Twickenham seat with 3,112 newly registered this year.

Age has historically had a huge effect on the result, with just 43 per cent of 18 to 24 year-olds estimated to have voted in 2015 compared with 78 per cent of people aged 65 and over.

The student said: “All my friends were talking about it and we were all really excited because it is such a big thing for us to have a say these days,

“You would have thought that they would want me to vote being a young voter but they just said there was nothing they can do and it was against the law.”

After waiting around for 15 minutes and not knowing what he could or should do Mr Finney said he decided to leave, feeling tired and disappointed.

Oliver’s sister, Alice Finney said: “Oliver is in the demographic group which is most unlikely to vote.

“Disillusionment and disenfranchisement amongst young voters has historically been an issue and thus the fact that he was turned away is even more poignant and shocking.”

A Richmond Council spokesperson said: "Residents do not need to take ID to polling stations. Electors are required to answer statutory questions to establish their identity to make sure that they are eligible to vote.

"Furthermore, local and nationally accredited guidance manuals are also issued to staff to reinforce the correct procedures which must be followed and to provide a consistent approach to the election process. 

"Staff are trained to carefully check that the entries they make against the register are correct.

“If Mr Finney believes that somebody has voted using his details, then this becomes a police matter."