Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway cleared in premium phoneline probe

Ant And Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and Soapstar Superstar - all ITV programmes - have had the cases against them closed.

The regulator for premium phone lines investigated claims that they had charged viewers for calls and texts that were not counted.

It decided there was no evidence to support the allegations.

Among the more serious claims was one that David Gest was wrongly evicted from last year's I'm A Celebrity... - also presented by Ant and Dec - after 30,000 votes for him went astray.

Results for Soapstar Superstar were said to have been affected by computer crashes, while Saturday Night Takeaway viewers were reportedly encouraged to call in to enter the Grab The Ads contest after entrants had been chosen.

A spokesman for the regulator Icstis said today: "We found no evidence at all and have closed the inquiries."

Also cleared was a show on Virgin Radio, presented by Madness singer Suggs, which was accused of encouraging listeners to text requests despite the programme being pre-recorded.

The watchdog is set to propose tough new rules on text votes - even suggesting they should be banned - in a consultation document to be released next week.

An Icstis insider said: "There are instances where you can't guarantee a message will get through.

"Our basic premise is that if you pay to enter a contest your entry must be counted, so we will be proposing either that you allow extra time for all the text votes to come through, you don't charge people after a certain time, or you focus on phone votes rather than texting.

"We'd say it's always best to play it safe and if you can't be sure a system will work then perhaps you ought to drop that particular option.

"It was interesting to see ITV's Grease Is The Word had phone votes but not texts. Perhaps that's something similar shows could consider."

The BBC's Saturday Kitchen, in which viewers were urged to ring in to a pre-recorded show, is likely to be reprimanded and possibly fined when the regulator publishes its findings later this month.

Investigations into Richard & Judy's You Say, We Pay quiz and GMTV are said to be "more serious" and could result in fines of up to £250,000 for each rule breach.

ITV's The X Factor escaped with a reprimand for overcharging viewers.

Fans of the show were charged 50p to vote instead of the advertised 30p, totalling £200,000 in overcharges.

But because it was "human error" and viewers were refunded, a fine was not imposed.

A source said: "Saturday Kitchen probably falls somewhere in between what happened with The X Factor, which was a human error that was reported to Icstis by ITV, and Richard & Judy.

"It's not as serious as You Say, We Pay or GMTV, but it could still result in a fine."

Investigations have also begun into Vernon Kay's Gameshow Marathon on ITV1, in which 10,000 entries to a contest were not counted, and Channel 4's Deal Or No Deal following complaints that it is pre-recorded and therefore potentially unfair to viewers entering a contest to win money.

Meanwhile, broadcasting watchdog Ofcom is investigating complaints about GMTV, BBC's children's shows Blue Peter and Smile, Five's Brainteaser, ITV1's Make Your Play and digital channel Big Game TV, now called The Daily Quiz.