ITV apologises over 'I'm A Celeb' rat row

ITV has issued an apology after a rat was killed and eaten by several contestants on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!.

The channel said that it was an "oversight" that the production team failed to check whether killing the rat is lawful and will review such procedures in future.

The apology comes after Australian police announced that it had no plans to prosecute producers of the show.

However, King of the jungle Gino D'Acampo and fellow campmate Stuart Manning still face charges of animal cruelty. The pair are due to appear before a court in New South Wales on February 3.

The incident happened after the contestants were split into two groups, one of which was in "exile" with meagre rations.

A statement from ITV said: "The production was unaware that killing a rat could be an offence in New South Wales and accepts that further inquiries should have been made - this was an oversight."

It also stated that producers had given the celebrities the go-ahead after health and safety advice found there "would not be any harmful effects of eating a properly prepared and cooked rat".

"ITV apologises for this error, and to the celebrities concerned, and will put in place procedures for next year's series to ensure that this cannot happen again," the statement concluded.

> D'Acampo: 'No regrets over rat killing'