Boy reunited with Lego man after dropping it in ballot box

A four-year-old boy has been reunited with his favourite Lego figure after accidentally dropping it into a ballot box when his mother was voting last week.

Olivia Allen, from Doncaster, took her son Carter and daughter Honey to the polling station and asked them to put two of her slips into the boxes.

"When I looked over to Carter his face had gone white and he was crying his eyes out because the Lego man had dropped into the box," she told the Yorkshire Post.

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The presiding officer said she could put a note in the box requesting the toy's return, but Allen assumed it would "just get lost or thrown out".

"I couldn't even replace it because it's a figure Carter has made himself with different parts from the Lego movie. He calls it 'Star Wars man'," she explained.

But earlier this week she had a call from Doncaster Council to say that, after all the results were declared, election staff had found Carter's toy.

Yesterday staff at the council tweeted pictures of 'Star Wars man' waiting for Carter's arrival. They then hid the toy in a discarded ballot box so Carter could retrieve it for himself.

"He was so happy," said his mother. "He ran over to me and said 'I love you so much.' I had to try hard not to cry. It was very emotional. He hasn't let go of it since we got home."

Doncaster Council staff even gave Carter some extra Lego gifts, including a Spiderman car.