Majority believe C4 should have intervened in race row

The majority of the British public believe Channel 4 should have intervened in the alleged racial abuse of Celebrity Big Brother contestant Shilpa Shetty, according to a poll published in the Guardian newspaper today.

Sixty-three percent said Channel 4 had a responsibility to step in, with women feeling more strongly than men, the Guardian/Marketing Sciences poll revealed.

But more than half of Britons (55%) said they did not think the insults aimed towards the Bollywood actress were typical of modern Britain.

Only a quarter (25%) felt it did reflect the true nature of society.

Fifty-one percent of those questioned believed Channel 4 had engineered the clashes to gain viewing figures.