Five today issued the following statement following Ofcom’s adjudication on the channel’s daytime quiz series Brainteaser.

Five’s Chief Executive, Jane Lighting, said: “Five has always accepted that breaches occurred with regard to Brainteaser. However, we are disappointed with the very high level of the financial penalty imposed, especially as we believe Five took all reasonable and appropriate steps to ensure the programme complied with the Ofcom Code.

“We welcome Ofcom’s acknowledgment that: Five acted in good faith at all times; did not intend to deceive the audience and took comprehensive steps to remedy harm and that it was not Five’s intention to cause financial harm to viewers nor procure greater financial gain.

“It was Five who notified Ofcom of these issues and we have co-operated fully with the regulator since. We have also conducted our own review, as the relationship of trust between a broadcaster and its audience is absolutely paramount to us.

“Five notes the acknowledgement by Endemol, the makers of Brainteaser, that it made mistakes and fundamental errors of judgement on the occasions highlighted.”

Five has also confirmed that Brainteaser, which the broadcaster took off air in March, when these issues came to light, will not be returning to the channel’s schedules.

Five has been working with Endemol to ensure that winners are found for the affected competitions and will donate all profits from these competitions to a cancer charity.

More than 1,100 episodes of Brainteaser were transmitted on Five between August 2002 and March 2007.