Recriminations begin over Richard & Judy

A row has broken out over who is to blame for the alleged misuse of premium rate phone lines on Channel 4's Richard and Judy Showbetween producer Cactus TV and Eckoh, which runs the show's phone service.

A row has broken out over who is to blame for the alleged misuse of premium rate phone lines on Channel 4's Richard and Judy Showbetween producer Cactus TV and Eckoh, which runs the show's phone service.

C4 is conducting an investigation into the show, following press claims that participants had been encouraged to take part in the quiz even though they no longer had any chance of winning.

This week Cactus TV joint managing director Amanda Ross apologised for the way the competition had been run but pointed the finger at Eckoh.

'Our investigation has confirmed that winners have been picked while telephone lines remained open. We relied on Eckoh for the picking of the winners,' she said.

'They were instructed to ensure all callers were included for consideration in compliance with the ICSTIS Code of Practice,' said Ross in a statement. 'When they told us in January they were not doing this we insisted they rectify the situation. We understood they were taking all necessary steps to ensure that the competition was run fairly and properly.'

But Eckoh group finance director Adam Moloney hit back, saying: 'When it came to the attention of our staff that in their view the You Say We Pay service on the Richard and Judy showwas not operating in a fully compliant way we raised this with Cactus. We also proposed changes to the way the competition operates in writing to Cactus. The proper steps were taken by the staff to try to correct the problem.'

Leading figures in participation TV have said that the controversy should act as a warning to broadcasters and producers.

Adrian Swift, director of television at ETV, the company that makes The Mintand Glitterballfor ITV, told Broadcast: 'As far as I can tell it is the old-fashioned TV people who have not really grasped the rigour that is required to keep participation programming absolutely fair.'

Chris Pressley, chief executive of telephone service provider Siren, said: 'This is a wake-up call for everyone in the business.'