A VIEWER of a regional news programme said she was livid when a phone poll on the impending war against Iraq incorrectly recorded her vote.

Denise Reid, of the Black Horse pub, in Seaton Ross, near Pocklington, said that viewers of Yorkshire Television's Calendar News were last night asked whether they were for or against going to war without UN backing.

But when she called the number given to vote against war she was told that she had voted in favour of the war.

She said she was furious when the result showed that 51 per cent of callers were in favour of war with Iraq. Ms Reid said: "The presenter said the result was very surprising, but it's not surprising when you give people the wrong number.

"I was livid and I'm sure that a lot of other people are too. I doubt that 51 per cent of people are in favour of war under any circumstances."

But Calendar spokesman Will Venters, head of news, denied that there had been a problem with the poll and said he had received no other complaints.

Mr Venters said: "As far as I'm aware this is an isolated complaint.

"We will endeavour to find out if there has been a problem, but the indications are that there doesn't appear to have been a problem in general.

"Our own presenters were taken by surprise that the vote was almost 50/50, but there was a similar poll on GMTV this morning and the results were almost the same as ours so it could be an indication of a change of opinion."

Mr Venters said that an independent company was employed to carry out the poll and thousands of calls were taken.

Updated: 10:27 Thursday, March 06, 2003