OFCOM today imposed fines totalling £80,000 over a scandal that led to North-East comedy duo, Ant and Dec, being wrongly given a prize at the British Comedy Awards.

The regulator imposed the penalty on Channel TV - which was supposed to ensure the programme met broadcasting rules when it aired on ITV1 - for what it called "extremely serious breaches".

But the decision immediately sparked a war of words between Ofcom, ITV and the firm which was fined.

The incidents which led to the fines included Ant and Dec being given the People's Choice Award in 2005, despite being beaten in the voting by Catherine Tate. Ofcom said the Geordie duo may have been chosen simply to ensure Robbie Williams would agree to appear on the show.

Viewers were encouraged to vote on premium rate phone numbers, in both 2004 and 2005, even though their calls would not count as lines had closed. The end of the show had already been recorded shortly before broadcast.

The incidents came to light after a number of TV phone-voting scandals which led to a shake-up in the industry.

Ofcom said Channel TV had breached its broadcasting code for finalising the vote early and broadcasting the last half hour of the show as live which led to a £45,000 fine. It was also in breach for overriding the viewers' vote, which prompted a further £35,000 fine.

Ofcom said it was frustrated by the lack of co-operation it received from some people involved in the production of the two shows. The broadcast regulator has been unable to get to the bottom of who had ordered votes to be overridden.

Although Ofcom realised Channel TV did not itself override viewer votes at the 2005 event, it said safeguards should have been in place to stop it occurring.

It added: "These breaches were entirely foreseeable and were serious, reckless and repeated. The fact that the same failing was repeated a year later was of great concern to Ofcom."

ITV said "it very much regrets" that viewers had been let down by Channel TV. And it criticised the framework which meant it was powerless to enforce compliance in this case, instead relying on another company chosen by the production firm which made the shows.

"Viewers - and the talent involved in the show - were badly let down by Channel Television," it said.

"It is totally unacceptable that ITV plc should bear the brunt of any reputational damage associated with third party compliance failings," ITV added.

Channel TV said today that it "deeply regrets this uncharacteristic oversight and apologises unreservedly".

But it said it was profoundly dissatisfied that Ofcom, due to a lack of statutory powers, had been unable to get to the bottom of all the issues.

The statement continued: "Channel Television sought and still seeks to get to the truth of what happened.

"A number of people have declined to participate in a meaningful way with any of the inquiries.

"It said a police investigation into the matter would be welcomed."

Ofcom had been given conflicting stories about the switch of winners.

One theory suggested singer Robbie Williams would appear only on condition he was presenting an award to Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly.

Another proposed that the switch was at the instruction of the production team, a phone provider or even following guidance from someone at ITV.

Ofcom said in its report today that it had been unable to reach a definitive conclusion about who ultimately made the decision.

Responding to ITV's plea for itself to police compliance for its programmes, Ofcom said this would breach the conditions for the initial Carlton and Granada merger.

The merger paved the way for a united ITV.

If the Network took over compliance for all ITV1 programmes, there would be a breach of the undertakings given by ITV plc itself at the time of the Carlton/Granada merger to the OFT, it said.

Ofcom also has a duty given by Parliament to ensure the ability of the individual ITV companies, like Channel, to meet their public responsibilities is not undermined.