ITV has apologised to viewers following an "interruption" during its live coverage of England's opening World Cup game.
Viewers of the channel's high definition HD service reported the channel had temporarily gone down, missing England's first goal of the competition.
Furious viewers immediately complained, with some describing the service as a "joke". England went on to draw the game against the United States 1-1.
Viewers reported that in the early stages of the match the coverage had suddenly switched to an advert. When live coverage returned viewers found they had missed England captain Steven Gerrard's opening goal against the USA.
ITV1 presenter Adrian Chiles apologised to viewers during the half-time break.
He said: "Apologies for those watching in HD, I believe there was some interruption in your coverage."
The chairman of ITV Michael Grade was forced to issue an apology for the "inexcusable glitch".
A spokeswoman insisted the problem had not originated in South Africa but she could not confirm how many viewers had been affected.
Oh how I've just chortled reading this.
So much for your fancy pamts HD digital utter shite then ey?
10 lumps of coal amd a bucket of water in the back of me b/w anna log cats whiskers did the trick for me thanks!
