Security guard from Stockton-on-Tees denies filling in form saying his dog, Zeus, was eligible to vote

A dog owner whose rottweiler was sent a voting card could face jail after being reported to the police for allegedly providing false information to the electoral roll.

Russell Hoyle, a security guard from Norton in Stockton-on-Tees, denies filling in a form saying that Zeus, the family pet, was eligible to vote.

But Stockton council has reported him for alleged electoral fraud, sending him a letter saying he must attend the local police station to be interviewed.

Hoyle, 45, says there was a mix-up during the last census when an official came to his house asking who lived at the address. He claims he said: "There is myself and my wife. My son is not old enough to vote." He then says he joked: "We have got Zeus living here as well and he is 63 in dog years."

Later a polling card for Zeus Hoyle dropped through his letterbox.

The letter from the council warns Hoyle he faces a fine or even prison after an investigation allegedly found he added his pet's details to the electoral form himself.

But Hoyle said: "I am adamant that I didn't fill out the form. This whole thing was just a bit of a joke and now it has gone too far. My family are outraged."

Under the Electoral Administration Act 2006, providing false information to an electoral registration officer carries a maximum prison term of six months.

A spokesman for Stockton council said: "Though we appreciate that registering a dog to vote might seem amusing, it is an offence to provide false information on an electoral registration form and we are obliged to refer cases like this to the police.

"It is the householder's responsibility to make sure all details on the form are accurate and they must also sign a declaration [on] the form confirming that this is the case."

When Zeus's polling card first arrived, Hoyle was filmed by the local newspaper asking the dog: "What do you think you're doing, you? You're not voting for the Conservatives, are you?"

Police take voter fraud very seriously. In 2012, a woman in Aberdeen was arrested and charged by Scottish police after a mannequin was nominated as an independent candidate called Helena Torry in the local elections.

Renee Slater was charged in connection with an alleged offence under the Representation of the People Act 1983 but was cleared due to lack of evidence.

She told Andrew Neil on the BBC that she had made the nomination as a political statement protesting against funding cuts. She said: "Many of these people have no voice, effectively, and I thought it could be quite useful to bring in something that had no voice to actually speak for the silent majority." In any case, the dummy had more charisma than most politicians, she added.

The Electoral Commission says voter fraud is a growing problem. Later this year new rules will require each voter to register themselves, a change to the current system which asks the head of the household to declare who lives at the address.

Individual voter registration (IVR) will be brought into force on 10 June in England and Wales and on 19 September in Scotland.

Electors will be registered individually and they will have to provide identification in order to verify their application; this will be their date of birth and national insurance number.

A spokeswoman for the Electoral Commission said: "Occasionally we do hear of cases where those who are ineligible to vote, such as dogs and young children, are added to the electoral register. Obviously this isn't allowed, so it's important that people only add correct information.

"In summer a new system of electoral registration is coming in, which will mean people are matched to national insurance numbers before being placed on the register, so this should stop this from happening."