COUNCILS in East Lancashire have raised around £35,000 by selling the personal details of those on the electoral roll over the past five years.

A request was made by the Lancashire Telegraph under the Freedom of Information Act asking for the amount of money generated by councils from selling off information containing names and addresses from the electoral roll.

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Burnley Council generated the most cash between 2011 and 2016 with £8,431 going into the coffers.

The majority of those sales were to credit reference agencies including Experian, Equifax, Call Credit, Crediva and Aristotle International.

Blackburn with Darwen Council was next with £7,572 while Pendle Council generated £6,889 selling to the credit agencies.

Heather Wolstenholme, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s freedom of information officer, said: “Councils are required by law to sell the information if it is requested.

“The costs are fixed in legislation but do not cover the cost of compiling the register.”

Ribble Valley Council sold registers to the value of £6,172 over the same period.

A spokesman said: “We do not record details of the organisations the materials are sold to.”

Rossendale Council sold registers for £5,898 to Equifax, Callcredit, Experian and Aristotle.

A spokesman for Hyndburn Borough Council, said: “We have not sold any registers to anyone during the years quoted, therefore the answer is ‘nil’.”

The electoral roll lists of all those registered to vote in a particular electoral district.

The main function is to combat electoral fraud by enabling authorities to verify the identity and entitlement to a vote of applicants. and to streamline voting on election day, and to ensure a person doesn’t vote multiple times.

James Baker, from pressure group NO 2 ID, said: “Our opinion is that the information collected for the electoral roll should only be used for elections, by the police and possibly credit reference agencies.

“It could lead to those in debt being deterred from registering to vote as they may fear being traced through the information by debt collectors.

“In certain circumstances people can register to vote anonymously and their details will be left off the list.

“People in that category could be people who have been the subject of domestic violence, ex-members of the services and special forces and people in witness protection.”

Hyndburn MP Graham Jones, said: “I’m pleased to see that the council in Hyndburn is not selling on the personal data it collects.

“I think this is a responsible attitude to protect residents’ personal data.”

Former MP and current Burnley councillor Gordon Birtwistle, said: “If the council is required by law to sell the register to credit agencies then there’s no option for them and they a limited in what they can do with them.

“People’s personal data is very sensitive and it should be treated with the utmost care.”