Young people across the UK refused right to vote

Students in Newcastle, Birmingham, Sheffield and the London Borough of Hackney were among the young voters affected, with some being made to wait in three-hour-long queues before being turned away at the last minute because of delays and a lack of ballot papers.

Students at Sheffield Hallam University are outraged following last night's events at their local polling station of St John's Ranmoor.

Student Union president Dani Beckett said: "After months of putting effort into getting students to pledge their intention to vote, we are appalled that young people were denied this right." 

Students were allegedly lined up in a separate queue to local residents, who were then given preference to go first. 

"Students were treated as second-class citizens. And for the council to say they couldn't have foreseen the scale of the turnout is ludicrous. We've been in touch with them almost every day for the past few months, telling them we had lots of student voters ready and willing to vote."

Ryan Haslan, an 18-year-old student at Sheffield Hallam university, said: "I was a first-time voter in Nick Clegg's constituency ready to vote for the Lib Dems, and after one-and-a-half hours of waiting in the rain I was told to leave or I would be forcibly removed. It was completely undemocratic."

Brooke House Sixth Form College in the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency also reported problems. Director of student experience at the school Bernise Gunner said: "We had a problem in getting students to want to vote in the first place, so to then be turned away, the pupils have said that they think it's terrible."

The National Union of Students (NUS) has been leading a campaign – Get Out and Vote – in recent months, with colleges and universities around the country encouraging young people to use their vote in the general election. 

The University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which took part in the initiative and recorded some of the highest numbers of students pledging their intention to vote, was also struck by last night's polling disaster.

Voters were also turned away in the key student seats of Manchester Withington, Liverpool Wavertree, Hackney South and Shoreditch, and the City of Chester. The NUS have expressed anger about student's voting experiences and are demanding an investigation into the matter.

NUS president Wes Streeting said: "We are alarmed by reports that students were placed in a separate, slower queue. Student unions have worked tirelessly to reverse the trend of low voter turnout among students and other young people. What message does this send to first-time voters whose votes will not be counted? 

"Students have shown unprecedented engagement with the political process during this election campaign and this morning many will feel they have been treated like second-class citizens. We will be working hard to ensure that when they get the opportunity to vote again students can be sure that their voices will be heard," he added.