A trial of voter ID has seen people in England turned away from polling booths for the first time for not carrying the necessary documents, with other issues reported including abuse of voting staff and some confusion over what evidence needed to be shown.

The local elections saw the scheme tested out in five boroughs in an attempt to crack down on voter impersonation, with the possibility it could be extended nationwide in future elections.

The main issues appeared to be in Bromley and Woking where, along with Gosport, people had to show one piece of photo ID or two from a list of other documents. In the other two test areas, Swindon and Watford, only a polling card was required.

In Bromley, south-east London, tallies by the opposition Labour group found at least 13 people turned away from just one ward, Crystal Palace. There were also reports of some voters being angry and abusive to polling station workers when asked to show ID.

One reported instance involved a long-time voting clerk having to turn away a man he knows personally as the would-be voter did not have the necessary documents.

In Woking there was some confusion reported as to what ID could be shown, with one man saying he was initially told a photo rail pass was not allowed, even though it was listed among the accepted documents.

The scheme has prompted concerns from charities and others that it could disenfranchise more vulnerable voters who are less likely to have access to the necessary ID, for example, older people and those who are homeless.

Just been to vote. Was informed that two people had already turned up without ID this morning so had been unable to vote. Very worrying and backs up all the evidence that the voter ID pilot in Bromley is plain wrong. — Ellie Reeves (@elliereeves) May 3, 2018

Angela Wilkins, the leader of the Labour group on Bromley council, said she was concerned that the bulk of reports about people being turned away seemed to be from Crystal Palace, the most deprived and diverse part of the borough.

“We assume tallies are being taken about how many people are refused at each polling station, and if it turns out this is a particular problem in places like Crystal Palace it bears out some of the concerns we have raised,” she said.

However, Stuart Wilks-Heeg, a visiting fellow at the University of Manchester who is an expert on electoral integrity, said his observations at three polling stations in Woking, where two people were turned away, seemed to show the pilot was running fairly smoothly.

“Polling station staff were really well briefed and voters clearly knew about the requirements,” he said.

Later observations in Swindon, where people had a bar code on their polling cards scanned before voting, saw few problems, Wilks-Heeg said, though police were reportedly called when one man became irate at being asked to show his card.

At Canal side they wanted to refuse this at first until I pointed it at their very large print out showing what was ok! @wokingcouncil — Simon Bangs 🇬🇧 (@simonbangs) May 3, 2018

In Bromley, most voters said they had few problems with the idea. A 92-year-old woman at a polling station in Penge, who gave her name as Florence, said it had been no concern to show photo ID for the first time in 70-plus years of voting.

“I don’t care at all,” she said. “If you’ve got nothing to hide it shouldn’t be a problem.”

The Cabinet Office argues that it is necessary to prevent voter impersonation and voter ID has been recommended by the Electoral Commission.

But critics have said it is an overreaction to a marginal problem, with none of the five trial boroughs having reported a single incident of voter impersonation – known technically as personation – over the past decade.

Cat Smith, shadow minister for voter engagement, said: “There was absolutely no case for introducing voter ID in the first place but after Thursday’s fiasco, it is impossible for the government to justify rolling it out.

“After completely ignoring a number of serious warning signs, the government decided to pilot discriminatory measures which denied people their right to vote.”

A spokesman for the prime minister, asked about reports of some voters being turned away, said: “The overwhelming number of people are casting their vote without a problem.

“A great deal of work has been done in these pilot areas to prepare the public there. In places like Bromley, people will have had six pieces of direct mail about the pilot, and there has been a widespread poster campaign.”