Police are probing reports of 'family voting' in the elections as a whistleblower claimed the illegal practice was rife.

The criminal offence often involves a man going to a polling booth with his wife or relative and telling them how to vote.

A local government source revealed that Manchester City Council had received 50 reports of the practice taking place. 

'These were the ones that polling staff could clearly see,' they added.

The council said it didn't recognise the 50 statistic. But a spokesman for its returning officer said 'preventative and corrective action was taken in a number of cases'. 

He added: 'Details of a very small number of incidents, in which potential offences may have been committed, are being shared with Greater Manchester Police to determine whether any follow-up action is required.'

Police are also looking into a report of family voting in neighbouring Tameside.

In February, independent organisation Democracy Volunteers said it had witnessed 'concerningly high levels' of family voting during the Gorton and Denton by-election in Greater Manchester, with up to one in eight votes affected.

GMP launched a probe and later closed it, sparking claims of a 'whitewash' by Nigel Farage.

In London's Tower Hamlets – regularly described as a 'rotten borough' – the Metropolitan Police are looking into claims that a candidate duped an elderly couple into handing over their votes to a so-called 'proxy' whom they do not know.

In a video released online two days before the elections, the couple's son alleged the candidate, who The Mail on Sunday is not naming, persuaded his parents to appoint another person to vote on their behalf three weeks ago.

'He [the candidate] somehow managed to manipulate my parents into signing over some details of theirs and now he's assigned them a proxy,' he said. 

'We have no idea who this person is.'

Another video, posted on March 25, shows an elderly man claiming that the same candidate 'cheated' him and his wife when he persuaded them to register for proxy votes.

'He proceeded to complete proxy vote applications on our behalf appointing an individual unknown to us,' the man said in a complaint to the council's chief executive. 

Last night, the Met said its officers were assessing the most recent video and trying to contact the complainant. 

'If an offence is identified, the Met will launch an investigation,' a spokesman said.

The candidate, who was unsuccessful, said: 'I strongly reject these allegations. I did not manipulate or deceive anyone into assigning a proxy vote.' 

Tower Hamlets Council said 'all allegations of electoral malpractice' had been passed to the Met. It declined to say how many allegations had been made.

The elections were also marred by claims of intimidation and harassment. In Oldham, a Ferrari owned by a councillor was smashed up in the early hours of Friday while votes were being counted. 

Kamran Ghafoor, leader of the Oldham Group of independent councillors, hit out at the 'toxicity' of politics in the area after what his group claimed was a 'targeted' attack.

Disorder was reported at several polling stations across the borough, including alleged attempts to intimidate voters and 'shouting matches' between candidates in the street.

Two opposing groups of party activists – totalling 16 people – outside a polling station in Werneth shouted at each other and at voters as they arrived to vote.

'I found it quite intimidating,' one female voter said. 

'There were several people around the front door. One had a Labour rosette on and about four others who were standing in the way. 

'It's not what you expect when you go to vote.'

Lewis Quigg, leader of the Reform group, said: 'It's getting worse because essentially you have got this split between the pro-Gaza independents and Labour and they are constantly at each other.'

Peymana Assad, elected as a Labour councillor in Harrow, north-west London, said she had received death threats during the campaign 'to silence me for speaking on foreign policy'. 

She added: '[My election] is for the haters, the ones who told people I wasn't a real Muslim, called me a Zionist for believing in the two-state solution, called me Taliban because my father is a Southern Pashto speaking Afghan.'