Opposition parties cannot force Boris Johnson to let 16-17 year-olds and EU citizens vote in a snap election, officials have said.

The Cabinet Office is understood to have told ministers that officials would need six months to ensure that additional groups of voters are added to the electoral roll ahead of an election. The Electoral Commission is understood to hold a similar view.

The advice would appear to scotch plans by Labour and SNP MPs to secure immediate voting rights for under 18s and EU nationals if Mr Johnson lays a one-line election bill in Parliament in an attempt to get around the Labour frontbench's opposition to a snap poll.

The move is being considered by Downing Street in order to secure an election with the approval of a simple majority of MPs rather than the 434 required under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, on which MPs are due to vote on Monday. Jeremy Corbyn is expected to order his MPs to abstain or vote against the motion, virtually guaranteeing that it would fall.