An army veteran said he was “gutted” to have been turned away from a polling station in Fleetwood, after bringing veterans’ ID card.

The Government now intends to make veterans’ ID cards a valid form of voter identification after several former service personnel were turned away from polling stations, Downing Street says.

Army veteran Mr Diver, 48, had been looking to place his vote in Fleetwood but was turned away after presenting his card, saying the experience left him feeling “gutted”.

“I felt clearly deflated, I felt gutted to be fair and upset – I felt angry at the point,” Mr Diver, who served in the Army for 27 years, said.

“I felt like my time served was invalidated and I just thought to myself, ‘what was the point in that?’

“I’ve served in pretty much every war going, I’ve spent 27 years away from my family.

“I thought you could use it as an ID card. It’s like a driving licence, you can’t get any more official and it didn’t strike me one bit that it wouldn’t be validated.”

In his response, Mr Mercer said: “I am sorry about this.

“The legislation on acceptable forms of ID came out before the veterans ID cards started coming out in January this year. I will do all I can to change it before the next one.”

Labour said the Government has had years to ensure the Veteran Card was included on the list of valid voter ID, having begun rolling out the cards in 2019.

Shadow veterans minister Steve McCabe said: “Veterans turned away from polling stations because they can’t use their veterans ID card to vote is a testament to how the Tories like to talk up their support for our forces but are failing to deliver.

“Despite what Johnny Mercer says, the Government has had years to make sure former service personnel could use their veterans ID to vote. It seems the minister is trying to pull the wool over veterans’ eyes yet again.”

Mr McCabe added that “multiple problems” had been found with voter ID and called for a “comprehensive review into this discredited policy”.

A Number 10 spokeswoman said: “It is our intention for the new Veteran Card, which was rolled out in January, to be added to the official list.”

The Government is consulting on adding the card to the list of acceptable voter ID, which already includes armed forces identity cards.

Thursday’s election is the first time many voters in England and Wales have had to present ID to vote under provisions first rolled out at last year’s local elections.

Acceptable forms of ID include a passport, driving licence, Proof of Age Standards Scheme (Pass) cards, Blue Badges, and some concessionary travel cards.

Downing Street said it had no wider concerns about the operation of the voter ID requirement, adding that only 0.25 per cent of would-be voters had been turned away from polling stations for lacking the correct documents.