ITV refunds callers after phone-in blunder

ITV is to refund around 50 viewers who phoned and texted premium rate lines on a repeat show from four years ago.

The episode of People's Court was broadcast on ITV1 at 2.45am on Monday and included messages asking viewers to phone and text to choose a winner.

ITV today admitted around 50 people made wasted calls because a warning message was missing.

The news follows a wave of revelations about incorrect use of premium-rate lines, many relating to high-profile ITV shows. Broadcasters have promised to stop it and Ofcom is consulting on tough new regulations.

One viewer who phoned and sent texts to the People's Court lines was Tom Defty, from Chelmsford. In the past he took part in phone-ins regularly, he said, and had hoped to regain his confidence.

"They said they had taken steps to ensure nothing like this would happen again," he told Digital Spy.

"It is only two weeks since I got a letter telling me I would be refunded for calls to an Ant and Dec show."

ITV replied: "We can confirm that due to a isolated human error the on-screen caption informing viewers that interactive services were closed did not appear on a single episode of the People’s Court...

"Around 50 viewers were affected by the problem and we are in the process of refunding each of them fully."