POLLS published in Liberal Democrat leaflets delivered in the York Outer constituency are “misleading”, some residents have claimed.

The Lib Dems are calling for tactical voting in many of their leaflets - with Keith Aspden, the party’s candidate in York Outer, writing that “it is a simple fact that the Labour Party aren’t going to win in York Outer. It is going to be a close battle between the Lib Dems and the Conservatives”.

The party has used selective polls in leaflets from polling companies Flavible and BestforBritain.org, suggesting the Lib Dems are polling at 30 per cent, while Labour was on 17 per cent.

But in the last General Election, the Lib Dems received 5,910 votes in York Outer, with Labour on 21,067 and the Conservatives on 29,356.

And Labour has disputed the Lib Dem claims, saying it was the second-most popular party in the 2017 election and that most polling companies - such as Tacticalvoting.org, RemainUnited and Best for Britain - advocate voting for Labour to defeat the Conservative Party.

Pauline Sinclair, 61, from Dringhouses, York, - who said she was open to voting strategically in the election - said the polls used by the Lib Dems seemed “royally misleading”.

She said: “The polling charts makes it confusing for residents who are just trying to see what party is best to vote for.

"They don’t tell us how they were conducted or whether they can be trusted. It is royally misleading.

“It made Labour look as if they have no chance at all but the 2017 election would suggest otherwise.”

Meanwhile, former headteacher, Tony Gavin, said that he has received 20 letters from the party so far, adding “this blanket propaganda is excessive, expensive and environmentally unsound".

Other voters have also voiced their frustration on social media. Anna Kaloski posted on Twitter: “I am utterly disgusted by these Lib Dem leaflets.”

A spokesman for the Lib Dems said: “This election for an MP for York Outer is a clear choice between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives.

"Support for us is growing, and coming from across political boundaries.

“Labour finished miles behind the Liberal Democrats in the recent local and European elections.

“That’s why so many Labour supporters here are lending their vote to Lib Dem Cllr Keith Aspden this time.

“On Best for Britain - we stand behind our use of polling from independent experts at Best for Britain on leaflets, which is clearly referenced in our leaflets - they are an independent organisation that are recommending the best way that people can use their vote in the upcoming General Election in order to stop Brexit and elect Pro-EU candidates.

“Their recommendations are backed up by their own independent polling, as well as recent election results.

“The Liberal Democrats won 18 out of 23 seats in York Outer this May and the Liberal Democrats came first, across York, in the European elections, with Labour and the Conservatives in fourth and fifth place respectively.”

York Labour councillor, Jonny Crawshaw, said: “The Lib Dems did well in the recent local elections but countless General Elections in York have shown how local results rarely translate to national elections - the issues at stake are fundamentally different.

“The General Election in 2017 saw Lib Dems come a distant third to Labour’s 21,000 votes, whilst the Tories polled just over 29,000. Labour polled three-and-a-half votes to every one vote for the Lib Dems.

“The unfortunate irony is that while Lib Dems rightly decry the use of a dodgy statistic on the Brexit battlebus, their own misleading use of statistics not only makes a Conservative win more likely – by splitting the anti-Tory vote – but it also undermines public trust in politics in general.”

Anna Perrett, the Labour candidate for York Outer, said: “For those who want to see real change in York Outer and have a final say on Brexit, the only party with a realistic chance of winning here is Labour.

“The Lib Dems came in 21,000 votes behind the Conservatives in 2017, and in comparison, Labour needs to overturn a majority of 8,000.”

* Political betting analyst is a former Lib Dem candidate.