Mr Coppel vehemently rejected claims by the petitioners that Mrs Homer broke election rules by permitting fraudulently-cast postal votes to be counted.

Her decision to allow votes delivered to the count in plastic bags instead of ballot boxes to stand was a minor breach of regulations which could not have materially affected the result of the elections.

Mrs Homer (pictured) had no powers in law to launch an investigation into ballot papers which the petitioners claimed were of a suspicious nature. It was not open to petitioners to challenge an election on the basis that the returning officer had not followed ?the spirit of the rules?.

It had never been part of the law of elections that a returning officer?s duties had to be carried out with ?perfection?.

Her behaviour and that of election staff was ? unimpeachable?, Mr Coppel said.

He added: ?It is no part of a returning officer?s function to apply his mind to whether there are other grounds for refusing a document.

?It similarly forms no part of a returning officer?s functions to investigate the facts underlying what is stated in the document that has been presented to the returning officer.?

Mr Coppel said the petitioners in Aston had persisted with false allegations against Mrs Homer and her professional staff with complete disregard to the harm inflicted on the reputations of those involved.

He added: ?It would be unfortunate for the democratic process in Birmingham if public confidence in the returning officer were to be tainted by her mere association with this petition.

The three-fold increase in postal votes at the June 2004 elections was a ?freak? occurrence that Mrs Homer and her staff could not have predicted, Mr Coppel argued.