THE GAME - SPOTLIGHT FALLS ON RICHARD AND JUDY QUIZ

Channel 4 has pledged to investigate claims that viewers were misled into calling a premium rate quiz line on the Richard and Judy Show after a list of contestants had been drawn up.

The Mail on Sunday today claimed to have been forwarded emails showing 24 callers' names and numbers at 17:09 GMT last Wednesday.

But ten minutes later on that day's edition of the show the £1-a-go number for the You Say, We Pay game was displayed on screen.

Co-host Judy Finnigan explained away the absence of the popular quiz on Friday's edition by saying that there had been a "technical error with our phone supplier".

The Sunday newspaper says that the game had been pulled after Channel 4 bosses were presented with its evidence.

According to the Mail on Sunday, the show, which attracts 15,000 callers on an average day, would be in line to make £1 million in illicit profits if the allegations are true.

A Channel 4 statement issued today said: "We reject any suggestion that we would knowingly mislead viewers in any way."

The broadcaster has already been rapped by premium rate phoneline watchdog Icstis after it judged Channel 4 to have "misled" the public by allowing a Big Brother contestant to re-enter the house despite viewers having already paid to vote them out.

"Our contract with the service provider clearly states they must comply fully with the codes that govern competitions of this nature drawn up by Icstis," the Channel 4 statement went on to say.