Sponsor pulls plug on UK Big Brother in race row

LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) Europe's biggest mobile phone retailer pulled its sponsorship today of a British reality TV show dogged by accusations of racism after Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty faced a tirade of abuse from fellow contestants.

Carphone Warehouse said it did not want its name associated with claims of racist bullying, and was pulling out of this series but saw no reason not to sponsor in future.

It has already paid around 3 million pounds for a year's sponsorship of this series and another one in the summer.

Broadcaster Channel Four stood by the controversial show whose ratings have soared since the row.

''We are not going to pull the plug,'' said chief executive Andy Duncan. ''We cannot say with certainty that the comments directed at Shilpa have been racially motivated.'' ''Celebrity Big Brother'' has sparked protests in Britain where more than 30,000 viewers complained to the country's media watchdog while supporters of Shetty in her homeland India have burned effigies of her alleged abusers.

The contestants are oblivious to the row over Shetty's treatment as they are cut off from the outside world while on the show, where their antics can be watched 24 hours a day.

India has asked Britain to check whether race laws have been broken by the celebrities, incarcerated in a house and garden together where they are voted off one by one by TV viewers.

After a row over stock cubes used in their communal cooking, Shetty's housemate Danielle Lloyd said: ''She should fuck off home.

She can't even speak English''.

British actress and fellow housemate Cleo Rocos, seeking to comfort Shetty, said of the clashes: ''I don't think there's anything racist in it.'' Shetty replied: ''It is, I'm telling you.'' The 31-year-old actress, reflecting on the row, later retracted her accusations of racism, telling ''Big Brother'' from the show's secret diary room ''I take that back. I stand corrected.'' LEADERS DEFEND BRITAIN British Prime Minister Tony Blair was dragged into the row in parliament and his successor-in-waiting Gordon Brown was forced to defend Britain's image on a trade visit to India.

The show was front-page news in Britain and India as both cultures contemplated their shortcomings.

''A reality TV show has shamed our country in the eyes of the world,'' concluded the Daily Express.

Several Indian newspapers condemned the ''racist jibes'' thrown at the Bollywood star but said the country should examine its own prejudices before expressing national outrage.

''Discrimination on the basis of colour is ingrained in the psyche of most Indians,'' The Hindustan Times said.

Indian TV channels have shown continuous footage of the show, in which one housemate has said she was scared to eat food prepared by Shetty because, ''you don't know where those hands have been'', and another said her name was too difficult and referred to her only as ''the Indian''.

So great is the uproar that British finance minister Brown has spent much of his tour trying to quell Indian anger.

''Thousands of British people have phoned in ... to condemn what has happened on the 'Big Brother' programme,'' he told a crowded news conference.

''They, like me, are determined that we send a message worldwide that we want nothing to interfere with Britain's reputation as a country of fairness and a country of tolerance.'' Reuters LL DB2329