Setanta is to cease accepting any form of payment - direct debit or card-based - from subscribers living in Great Britain with immediate effect.

Administrators Deloitte, who were appointed at 2:30pm today, confirmed that the shut down of Setanta's British broadcast operations would begin with the immediate cessation of acceptance of payments from new or existing subscribers.

Neville Kahn of Deloitte said that Setanta will "shortly cease broadcasting to its customers in Great Britain" who should visit Setanta's website because "no further monthly subscriptions or direct debits will be accepted from customers of the UK business".