Eurovision result 'in doubt' after some countries allow text voting

The result of tonight's Eurovision Song Contest is already in doubt because most countries are to allow text voting.

The BBC has banned the use of people texting in their vote due to its unreliability.

But its widespread use among other countries has raised fears over the accuracy of the vote.

The continued use of SMS voting across Europe will raise fears that on top of tactical voting, there is also the potential for errors in the counting.

BBC chiefs banned the use of text voting in the wake of last year's TV scandals over fears not all votes delivered this way can be counted in time.

It has been revealed that the corporation has raised the issue with the European Broadcasting Union, the body that runs the song contest.

A source at the broadcaster said: 'Conversations have been happening with the EBU and we have said to people this is our position."

'We have shared the findings of our review with the EBU, and they have incorporated some of it to inform everyone of what we have found and how they can work more effectively, but ultimately it is up to each country how they want to vote."

It seems the EBU is unable to compel the individual nations to drop this type of voting, with many planning to carry on despite the fears.

In the UK, viewers will only be allowed to vote by phone and not by text.

The Europe-wide voting system is run by the German firm Digame, which also oversees voting for shows such as German Idol and Big Brother.

A spokesman for the EBU said that people would be able to vote by SMS or phone depending on "territorial circumstances".

The concerns come after the EBU had looked into claims of voting irregularities on last year's competition, but ultimately no irregularities were found.