Two mailbags containing 290 Tauranga City Council voter packs for Welcome Bay residents have been stolen from New Zealand Post.

The bags contained an estimated 400 items of mail which had been sorted for delivery to 195 households in nine streets in Welcome Bay.

Tauranga City Council electoral officer Warwick Lampp says 290 voter packs for Welcome Bay were stolen in the mail theft.

The stolen mail included 290 voter packs for the TCC election, and affected some, but not all, residents in nine streets, says Tauranga City Council electoral officer Warwick Lampp.

'New Zealand Post advised me that last Monday, September 23 two mail bags were stolen,” says Warwick.

'In all the elections I've been involved in I can't recall it happening before. New Zealand Post will know that answer, it's very, very rare.”

The Te Papa-Welcome Bay ward is hotly contested with six candidates standing for the two available seats.

The streets concerned are: all of Lucerne Place, Ryegrass Dell, Cloverlea Walk; parts of Pampas Grove, Harbourside Way, Meadowviews Drive, Ridgemount Terrace, Orion Drive, and a small portion of Welcome Bay Road.

All potentially affected residents have been identified by the Electoral Officer and have been sent special votes by Fastpost. Voting is open now and closes noon on Saturday, October 12, with the results being announced later that day.

Warwick says New Zealand Post wrote to all affected households on September 27 notifying them of the theft.

Police have been notified, and if the thieves are identified New Zealand Post will seek prosecution. Anyone with information relating to the mail theft should contact the Tauranga Police Station on 577 4300.

Any queries are to be made to the Electoral Officer, Warwick Lampp, electionz.com Ltd, on the free phone Election Hotline 0508 440 011.