A PILOT scheme targeted at combating voter apathy is to be tested for the first time in a west Wiltshire village.

Ballot papers for a district council by-election will be posted to the 258 people on the electoral roll in Heywood, near Westbury.

Voters will be asked to return their votes in pre-paid envelopes.

The ballot papers will be posted to homes on or around May 30 and will have to be returned by June 15, either in the post or by hand, to the district council offices, in Trowbridge, or to the Ham Post Office, in Westbury.

It is the first time an all-postal vote has been carried out in the UK.

The move follows an application by West Wiltshire District Council to the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions to run the scheme for a vacancy that arose in the Storridge ward.

The government is encouraging alternative voting methods in a bid to increase turnout.

Cllr Horace Pickett, the district council's portfolio holder for service delivery, hopes this method will encourage people to place their votes.

He said: "One of the main reasons people give for not voting is that they couldn't get to a polling station, or it was inconvenient.

"This all-postal ballot will give voters in Heywood Storridge nearly two weeks to complete the ballot paper and return it, so I am hopeful that we will see a significant increase in turnout."

There are currently two candidates for the June 13 election.