THE vote tally for the BBC Restoration programme final remained a mystery today - amid claims that supporters of the Newbridge Memorial Hall were unable to register their votes.

Thirty-six hours after the winner was announced - and after numerous requests from the Argus - the programme makers are still refusing to reveal details of the phone poll.

Despite a vigorous campaign, the Memo narrowly lost out in the nail-biting final held live on BBC2 on Sunday night. Organisers revealed there had been around 750,000 votes and that third place had picked up nearly 15 per cent of the vote.

But just how close the Memo came to scooping the top prize remained a secret earlier today, as reports of supporters unable to register their votes surfaced.

Howard Stone, chairman of the Friends of the Newbridge Memo, said they received complaints from people in the Penarth and Barry areas who couldn't get through to vote. Christine Farr, from Blaina, also tried to vote for the Memo for more than half an hour non-stop on Sunday evening without any luck.

A spokeswoman for the BBC said: "We are sorry to hear viewers had difficulty in getting through to the Restoration vote lines.

"We have thoroughly checked the line with the BT and internally and there are no records of any faults."

She added that the BBC would not reveal details of the phone poll because the supporters of the buildings themselves had not yet been told.

She would not give a timescale on when they would be told. The £3 million prize went to the Old Grammar School and Saracen's Head at King's Norton Green, Birmingham.