Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and his wife Valerie were among hundreds of Barnet residents who were turned away from polling stations today.

The couple, who attempted to vote at around 8:30am this morning, were turned away as a result of administrative errors.

They were advised to return later today. However a representative confirmed that they were unable to do so as Rabbi Mirvis is currently en route to the airport to visit Holland's Jewish community.

He said the Chief Rabbi and his wife were "disappointed" that they were unable to vote.

The chaos at polling stations throughout the north London borough, which contains the largest number of Jewish residents in the capital, was blamed on incomplete lists of voters being sent to administrators.

Some residents who were not on the registered list were permitted to vote if they had their polling card - while others were turned away regardless.

In a statement, Barnet Council told voters: "If you attended a polling station in Barnet this morning, and you were turned away and therefore could not vote, and you are unable to return due to work reasons, then you may be able to use an emergency proxy vote.

"You will need to complete an application form and return the form by 5pm today."

Voters can find out how to submit a proxy vote here.

Mayoral candidates for the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party have called for voting to be extended tonight, past the original 10pm deadline.

Rabbi Lee Wax, of New North London Synagogue, was turned away from her local polling station this morning.

The Masorti rabbi said she would return to the booth later today, adding that she never considered waiving her voting right: “Partly because I have an overdeveloped sense of social responsibility; but also because women fought long and hard for the vote. I have never ever taken that lightly.”

Those who had been turned away expressed anger over social media.

In Hendon's Bell Lane polling station, one woman said she would not have time to return to cast her vote later in the day.

David Fraser, PR consultant & former publicist to Lord Sugar, was turned away from a Barnet polling station. He said he was unable to return later in the day to vote, adding: "I was turned away and now can't go back.

"I am working all day and won't be back until after the polls close. So that's that."

Former Labour Hendon MP Andrew Dismore - who is standing for the GLA - hit out on the shambles.

On Twitter, he confirmed that administrators had "sent wrong register to polling stations".

Sue Cocker, Barnet Council media manager, said the problem had affected all 155 polling stations in the borough.

She explained that as of 10:20am, “the new registers are going to all the polling stations, and the final couple are being sent over - 99 per cent of them are there now. Once all of them are in place we’ll send out a message.”

Barnet mayor Mark Shooter, who is Jewish, confirmed that “the lists were wrong - the lists that were sent out only had recently registered voters on.

The mayor sent a postal vote ahead of time, and admitted that some who tried to vote this morning have lost that democratic right.

“They were able to vote if they had polling cards in some polling stations but not in others, so some will have lost the opportunity to vote unfortunately.

“This is a very rare problem. There’s an investigation going on; they’ll have to get to the bottom of what went wrong. People are upset.

“We have to ascertain what went wrong and learn lessons.”

Tanya Burns, who works in recruitment, was on her way to work and to drop off one of her two children at school this morning when she was told in Finchley that she could not vote.

She said the situation was “an utter shambles,” describing how volunteers at the polling station had told her to talk to the presiding officer, who she said “looked slightly lost.

“He was on a mobile, presumably his personal one, and was trying to get hold of Barnet Council to verify everyone there.

“He asked: ‘Is there any chance you can come back later?’ but I said: ‘No, I’m on my way to work and dropping my kids off at school, that’s why I’m here at eight.”

It was “hugely frustrating,” she said. “What are we, in the 16th century? Obviously they should’ve anticipated this before polling day.

“I’m hoping to go back and try again. My husband’s going later as well. It is a deep concern that I couldn’t vote. It’s my democratic right.”

Barnet Council confirmed at 10:40am that the polling stations were now running as usual, with a spokesperson adding: "All the updated electoral registers are now in place and people can vote as normal.

"We are advising people who were unable to vote this morning to return again before the polling stations close if at all possible.

"We apologise for the problems we have experienced."

A spokesman for Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrats' mayoral candidate for London, said: "Barnet Liberal Democrats have called for an enquiry and Caroline is supporting those calls, because of the disgraceful actions which took place this morning.

"It’s wrong that people who lead busy lives weren't able to vote this morning, and hopefully people will have the chance to exercise their democratic right during the course of the day.

"Barnet Council should do everything they can, including if necessary keeping the polls open later tonight."

Sian Berry, the Green Party's candidate, said "the most obvious" option was to "keep the polling stations open as long as possible tonight, and then also to re-open them tomorrow morning to accommodate anyone who tried and failed to vote this morning and may not be able to get there this evening."

In the statement, she also said: “It’s vital that whoever wants to vote in Barnet should be given the chance to do so, otherwise it would be a travesty of democracy. Emergency proxy votes alone won’t solve the problem.

"If it’s not possible to run the polling stations in the same locations tomorrow, the council should provide well publicised alternatives.”

The Electoral Commission has indicated that any petition to challenge election results would need to be entered with the Royal Courts of Justice, and cannot be lodged until the results are announced.

Earlier, a Barnet Council spokesman had tweeted: "Please can voters unable to vote this morning return to their polling station later if possible. We apologise for these problems."

In a statement, a representative had said the council was aware of problems with its electoral registration lists at polling stations in Barnet which "meant that a number of people who had not brought their polling card with them were unable to vote."