Ipswich St Francis Tower residents have difficulty voting

Those living in St Francis Tower have been out of their flats for 10 months now, due to leaks that took place in July 2023. 

Voters said they faced issues during the recent Ipswich Borough Council and Police and Crime Commissioner elections on May 2 and said they hoped it did not impact them when a General Election is announced.

The election will be called in due course and will take place no later than January 28 2025.

Residents say access issues were exacerbated due to the locks on the ground floor being changed and a lack of information. 

Flat resident Danny Fox said: "I went to pick up the ballot and realised that my key doesn't work anymore. I was confused and just called up the management, and only then did I get to know that they had changed the locks."

Mr Fox eventually arranged access to his home, but missed the deadline for the postal vote and had to vote in person. 

He added: "I hope the same confusion does not happen during the general elections."

The tower's management changed the locks to the ground floor (Image: Charlotte Bond)

A spokesperson from Ipswich Borough Council said it had contacted Inspired Property Management company to communicate to residents key deadlines.

This includes information about re-registering to vote from their new address, voting by proxy or voting from their St Francis Tower address.

However, residents say this has not been communicated.

An IBC spokesperson said: "It is disappointing to hear that tenants were not directly provided with the polling information and advice prepared by our elections team in advance of the recent local election."

Tom Hunt MP said it is important to ensure everyone can vote (Image: House of Commons)

Ipswich's MP Tom Hunt praised the democratic system last week after misplacing his ID ahead of the elections and said this was a concern.

He said: "I'm concerned to hear this was the case. The integrity of the voting process is very important and there are good reasons why voter ID was brought in but it's clearly also very important to ensure good access to voting and to remove barriers that make it difficult for some people to vote.

"I'm pleased that ultimately everyone who wanted to exercise their right to vote was able to but there are things that could be done in future to provide more clarity to people who are in this situation."

IPM has been contacted for a comment.