The BBC has offered to refund Strictly Come Dancing voters after it was overwhelmed with complaints following Saturday’s aborted attempt to evict a contestant.

When all three remaining couples were put through to the final despite the show’s 11.2 million viewers being encouraged to show their support via a premium-rate phone number, the BBC told fans their votes would count towards next week’s show instead.

Last night they were forced to go one step further and offer to refund voters after receiving almost 2000 complaints.

In a statement, the corporation confirmed: “We will be offering refunds to anyone unhappy about their votes in the semi final who would like to be reimbursed for their calls”.

Saturday’s votes failed to make an impact after singer Rachel Stevens and model Lisa Snowdon were given equal scores by the judges, leaving viewers unable to save actor Tom Chambers from the dance-off. Votes cast will still be carried forward to this weekend, the statement said.

“Following the unprecedented outcome of last Saturday's Strictly Come Dancing semi finals, the BBC has been working on providing a solution for next week's final. We have worked in consultation with the production team, the remaining contestants and an independent adjudicator to determine the fairest outcome. During this process, fairness to the viewers who voted and the contestants themselves has been the guiding principle.”

“We considered a wide variety of options including the scrapping of all votes from last week's show. It was felt, however, that this would not be fair to the contestants nor to those who had voted. Instead, it was agreed that the fairest option was to allow the combined scores of the judges and the audience to carry over to the first show of next week's two show final. This was confirmed by an independent adjudicator as the fairest option.”

It is the second time the high-rating series has sparked viewers’ anger. The judges were accused of being out of touch with the public after political journalist John Sergeant quit following criticism from the panel, despite huge viewer support.

Voters who would like to request a refund should visit the show’s website for details.

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