TWO disgraced former councillors have been released from prison after serving less than a third of their sentence for election fraud.

Ex-Lib Dem councillors Manzur Hussain and Mozaquir Ali are out on licence after serving less than six months of their 18-month term.

The duo were jailed in November after being found guilty at Preston Crown Court, in October, of conspiracy to defraud the returning officer of Burnley Borough Council.

Hussain and Ali, who declined to comment on their release, will be barred from standing as councillors again until 2012 at the earliest.

Council leader and Lib Dem group leader, Coun Gordon Birtwistle, said: "I have seen them briefly and they seemed happy to be out of prison.

"I can't comment on what they want to do in the future, but they are not allowed to re-join the party."

Hussain, 59, of Milner Street, and Ali, 44, of Brougham Street, both Burnley, were released earlier this month.

The pair, who represented Daneshouse with Stoneyholme, tried to rig the 2004 local elections by persuading voters to sign blank proxy voting slips on their doorsteps.

Some 167 votes were investigated by the council following the election, and 55 were found to contain false information.

Last month Hussain failed in an Appeal Court bid to get his conviction quashed.

In February, he was removed from Burnley Council after not attending a meeting for six months - the limit set by the Government.

Hussain, who was still paid his £2,100-a-year allowance while in jail, tried to keep his seat by claiming his 18-month prison sentence had prevented him attending meetings since August 23.

However, Hussain was on bail before he was jailed on November 23, and could have attended three meetings.

A spokesman for Burnley Council said: "Any person standing in office convicted of an offence and jailed for at least three months, without the option of a fine, cannot hold office for five years from the date of conviction."