A directly elected mayor has been accused in the high court of involvement in electoral fraud and illegally smearing an opponent, according to the Times.

An election petition claimed groups of people had been paid to stand outside polling stations and convince voters in Tower Hamlets, east London, to back the mayor, Lutfur Rahman, on election day last month.

Rahman's supporters are accused of canvassing inside polling stations and accompanying voters to booths where they left election material persuading voters to support the mayor, according to the petition.

The claims have been denied by Rahman's team, who say that all of the main parties have accepted the election result.

The court documents allege that corrupt or illegal practices were so prevalent that they affected the result of the election. If the petition is successful, the mayor could face a rerun of the poll. He could be banned from holding office if the high court finds evidence of electoral malpractice by him.

John Williams, the returning officer for the mayoral election, is also named on the petition in relation to separate allegations. The complainants blame him or his officials for allegedly letting Rahman's supporters enter polling stationsand canvass voters.

It is alleged that the count was impeded by the large number of Rahman's supporters who attended.

Rahman is already facing an inquiry by auditors sent by Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, to check hotly disputed allegations by the BBC's Panorama about grants given by Tower Hamlets to Bangladeshi organisations.

Rahman's agent, Alibor Choudhury, told the Times: "All candidates in the mayoral election accept the results. The returning officer and the police pursue all allegations and complaints reported to them. This petition challenging the results does not raise any new issues or evidence.

"Democracy is thriving in Tower Hamlets giving the mayor one of the largest mandates with one of the highest turnouts in London. The mayor is humbled and honoured to have been elected for another four years and is busy getting on with serving all residents in Tower Hamlets."