Channel 4 subtitles, signing and audio description are unlikely to return to TV until mid-November, after a catastrophic fault knocked broadcast services offline in September. The missing services have angered d/Deaf and visually impaired viewers. Ofcom has received over 500 complaints. Channel 4 is building a new system from scratch, which it says will fix the problem more quickly than its current prediction of mid-November.

The broadcaster said: “Channel 4 would like to apologise to viewers for not currently being able to provide access services. We realise how frustrating this is for our viewers.”