The Car phone Warehouse is deferring its sponsorship of Channel 4’s Celebrity Big Brother series after ongoing accusations of racist conduct on the programme. The move follows yesterday’s statement that the retailer had ‘no intention’ of pulling its sponsorship.

CEO Charles Dunstone said Car phone’s anxiety has ‘rapidly mounted about the broadcast behaviour of individuals within the Big Brother house’.

He continued: “This behaviour is entirely at odds with the brand values of The Car phone Warehouse. As a result we feel that as long as this continues we are unable to associate our brand with the programme. We had already made it clear to Channel 4 that were this to continue, we would have to consider our position. Nothing we saw last night gave us any comfort. Accordingly we have instructed Channel 4 to remove our sponsorship name and branding with immediate effect.”

Andy Duncan, Channel 4’s chief executive, said: “The latest series of Celebrity Big Brother has strayed into particularly controversial territory – the issue of racism and whether or not it remains ingrained in British attitudes despite all the progress we have apparently made towards becoming a truly multi-cultural society. The level of complaint and comment shows the programme has touched a real nerve.”

The accusations have focal point around comments made by contestants to Indian actress Shilpa Shetty within the Big Brother house.