A town's bid to win a spot on a new Monopoly board has been hit by a vote-rigging scandal.

Burgess Hill had looked a certainty to feature in the game's Here and Now UK edition following a council campaign to get residents to vote for it in an online poll.

Last week it was among the top ten towns and cities with the most votes.

The top 22 when voting closes this Friday will be rewarded with places on the new edition's board.

But game manufacturer Parker yesterday named and shamed Burgess Hill as one of several towns whose position had been boosted by "irregular voting".

Website managers have discovered people setting up multiple email accounts to cast extra votes on a daily basis.

They have been investigating the number of "suspect" votes cast and are expected to make an adjustment to the totals for the towns concerned today.

A Parker spokeswoman said: "Some people have been trying to get their locations on to the board by any means necessary.

"The rules of the vote state everyone can vote once every day for the entire run of the voting period.

"However, it seems some people have gone the extra mile. Over-enthusiastic programmers have even created some cunning techniques to generate additional votes."

On Friday some votes had already been docked from the cheating towns, sending them plummeting down the table.

Burgess Hill dropped from the top ten, where it had a chance of clinching one of the illustrious Park Lane or Mayfair spots, down to eighteenth, which would earn it the Pentonville Road square.

Last night the town had staged a fight-back, climbing to tenth position - the Fleet Street square. It is still the Sussex town with the greatest chance of being represented in the game.

Only Horsham in 37th and Brighton in 44th have joined it in the top 50.

Burgess Hill Town Council has called on Sussex residents to rally round and make sure at least one part of the county makes it on to the board.

Town clerk David Carden said: "The competition has really captured people's imaginations and there continues to be a fantastic effort by people in Burgess Hill. But we are a relatively small town competing with big cities and university towns with large student populations so we need help for a big push in the last week."

Votes can be cast at www.monopoly.co.uk.