February 03, 2007	Saturday	Muharram 14, 1428

LONDON, Feb 2: British broadcaster Channel 4 said on Friday it would shelve a series of sex programmes after facing a storm of criticism over the “Celebrity Big Brother” race row.

A three-show season of programmes dubbed “Wank Week” has been ditched, although a spokesman insisted they would be aired “in due course.” The move comes after glamorous Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty suffered alleged racist bullying on the reality television show, sparking condemnation from around the world.

The so-called “Bullywood” row drew in top politicians in Britain and India, while Ofcom, Britain's media regulator, is reviewing the channel's funding after receiving its biggest number of complaints.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone attacked programme makers for “deliberately” broadcasting racist comments.

Channel 4 wants a slice of the publicly-funded television licence fee -- viewers currently pay 131.50 pounds ($260) per year for BBC services.

The money would pay for the switchover from analogue to digital broadcasting, which will take place gradually from November 2007 up to 2012.

Meanwhile the row over “Celebrity Big Brother” continued to burn.

CONTESTANT QUESTIONED: A contestant has been questioned by police over a racist bullying row, her lawyers said on Friday . Model Danielle Lloyd, a former Miss Great Britain, was interviewed as a witness on Thursday over alleged comments made by her and several other contestants about Indian actress Shilpa Shetty.

“She was interviewed as a witness, not under caution,” said a spokesman at Lloyd's lawyers, London solicitors Schillings.

The 23-year-old had requested the interview “because she wanted to cooperate and raise her own concerns too”, Lloyd's spokeswoman was quoted by the Sun newspaper as saying.

Lloyd became the first contestant to be interviewed by police over the row. —Agencies