The Trade and Industry Secretary has accepted the deal reached between Carlton, Granada, and the Office of Fair Trading, thus satisfying concerns related to the Competition Commission.

The move was hailed by ITV's interim chairman, Sir Brian Pitman, as clearing "a major hurdle" in the merger of ITV giants Carlton and Granada, and said that the merger is still on course for creating the new ITV plc early in 2004.

ITV CEO-designate Charles Allen, currently Granada's executive chairman, said:

"'This is excellent news and marks the end of a lengthy regulatory process over the last year. The management teams at Carlton and Granada have done a fantastic job working with the competition and regulatory authorities to achieve today's result. We now look forward to working with advertisers and moving swiftly to implement the integration plan and complete the merger."