Organisers of the British Comedy Awards promised Robbie Williams that he could present an award to Ant and Dec if the singer agreed to appear - even though the ITV presenters had not been selected for a prize.

The disclosure came in findings, published for the first time today, after an inquiry by law firm Olswang into the 2005 awards broadcast on ITV1.

Olswang found that comedy star Catherine Tate had been cheated out of the People’s Choice Award, which she should have won for her BBC sketch show, after a viewer vote.

The award was wrongly presented to Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly for their ITV1 Saturday Night Takeaway show, after a rigged premium-rate vote.

The presenting duo were said to be “completely appalled” by the error and will return their award to ITV. A spokesman for Ms Tate said she was an “innocent bystander” of the affair and did not wish to comment.

An Ofcom investigation is now under way into the scam, published separately from the offences which led to a record £5.6 million fine slapped on ITV. But the broadcaster will not face further financial punishment for the Comedy Awards debacle. The awards were produced for ITV by independent company Michael Hurll Television.

The Olswang independent report stated that Williams was invited to present an award at the ceremony. It was “understood” the LA-based pop star would be happy to present an award if the recipients were Ant and Dec, and in order to guarantee the former Take That star’s attendance, he was told he could present a gong to the duo even though they had not won any of the awards determined by the jury.

The only award that the I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! presenters could have gone on to win was the People’s Choice Award, but this was dependent on a public vote.

In the event, Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway was announced as the winner of the People’s Choice Award, when the actual winner should have been The Catherine Tate Show, which collected the most public votes. The trophy was presented to Ant and Dec by Williams.

The awards had moved to a recorded portion while ITV viewers were watching the evening news. During the “as live” broadcast, viewers were encouraged to vote for the People’s Choice Award - which they did, even though the votes had already been counted and the award had actually already been presented.

The Olswang report says it cannot be concluded from the sequence of events that the assurance to Williams was the reason the wrong winner of the People’s Choice Award was announced.

It said: “In addition to the People’s Choice Award there were a series of awards determined by a jury. Robbie Williams was invited to present an award. It was understood that he would be happy to present an award if the recipients were Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly.

“In order to ensure his attendance, this assurance was given, albeit at a time when the winners of all the jury awards had been decided and Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly had not been selected.

“As such it was an assurance that could not legitimately have been guaranteed, as the only award still to be decided was the People’s Choice Award, the winner of which was then unknown and dependent upon the public vote.”

It adds: “While it can be concluded that the assurance was given to ensure Robbie Williams’ attendance to present an award, it cannot be concluded that this was the reason why the wrong winner of the People’s Choice Award was announced.”

The report states that there is no suggestion that Williams or Ant and Dec were aware of “any of these issues”. ITV will make a decision on the future transmission of the British Comedy Awards on the network after Ofcom’s investigation into alleged compliance issues has been concluded. The show went ahead last year without an ITV broadcast.

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