AN EXPAT Brightonian claims he has lost his right to vote because of the cost of a postage stamp.

Gavin Greenwood is currently living in Hong Kong but had hoped still to vote in the upcoming UK General Election.

He said he sent his postal voting application to Brighton and Hove City Council a few days after Theresa May called the shock snap election last month.

Electoral services officers contacted him to say that the logistics of processing, print and transport would mean his voting pack would not reach him in time for his vote to be cast and returned for counting and recommended he found a proxy to cast the vote on his behalf.

Mr Greenwood, who would have been voting in Brighton Pavilion, said he had been a victim of a failure in the electoral system.

He is among a growing number of residents living abroad who are registered to vote in the UK including an estimated 8,000 hoping to cast their vote in one of 16 Sussex constituencies.

The number has increased tenfold in the past three years, from 26,000 in December 2013 to 264,000 in December 2016 following a campaign by the Electoral Commission.

The number of overseas voters is equal to almost four constituencies and has led to calls for the UK to follow in the footsteps of France, which established a new MP for the Northern Europe constituency of UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and the Baltic states in 2012, and Italy which has had expat MPs since 2006.

British citizens living overseas are able to vote for 15 years after leaving the UK and can vote by post or proxy.

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokesman said: “For electors holidaying in Hong Kong or anywhere else, data has to be sent to external printers in order to be printed. Anyone who applied for a postal vote before May 5 had their papers dispatched on May 22 (or May 17 if overseas) and anyone who applied after May 5 will have their papers sent out on or before May 31.

“The dates for dispatch are in line with the majority of other acting returning officers and earlier than some others. Any elector who is concerned that their postal voting pack would not reach them should apply for a proxy instead.

“This option is being actively communicated by the electoral services team.”

An Eastbourne Borough Council spokeswoman said it had received applications for 208 postal votes from overseas voters.

She said: “We have done a lot of work with our overseas voters explaining postal deadlines and encouraging appointment of a proxy where we think they may not receive the postal vote overseas in time.”

A Lewes District Council spokeswoman said: “We do have widespread overseas electors and we sent an early dispatch of overseas postal votes on May 17 to give those with a postal vote in place more time to receive and return. All overseas PVs will be sent under a special licence and with special prepaid return envelopes to speed up postal despatch and return time.”

A Rother District Council spokesman said: “We currently have 350 overseas voters registered with a postal vote and a further 120 overseas voters with a proxy vote. We’re not aware of any cases of overseas voters not being able to vote due to the practicalities of sending forms.”

A Wealden District Council spokesman said: “We have 841 registered voters living overseas. We have written to those who did not have any voting arrangements in place asking them if they wanted to set up a proxy or postal vote.”

A Hastings Borough Council spokesman said: “We advise overseas voters postal votes may not be the best method, due to timescales and postal services in other countries. We will always offer a proxy vote as an alternative, should that be agreeable to the elector.”