ITV postpones second episode of the Street

The broadcaster said it would confirm its future transmission plans today.

On Wednesday, an edition of Harry Hill's TV Burp was screened.

The programme this week featured a siege plotline which had so far seen Carla Connor, played by Alison King and Hayley Cropper (Julie Hesmondhalgh) taken hostage by Tony Gordon, played by Gray O'Brien.

The storyline is known to feature gunfire and Wednesday night's episode would have seen one character left dead.

The postponements will be a headache for TV schedulers who had carefully plotted the climactic scenes to fit around this week's Britain's Got Talent semi-finals and the launch of Corrie in HD.

On Monday, a huge audience of more than 10 million watched a 9pm screening of the soap as the tension built.

The BBC received a number of complaints after broadcasting a radio play in which a killer yells "I'll put a bullet in your brain".

The drama, called Six Impossible Things, aired on Radio 4 yesterday afternoon – just one day after the tragic events in Cumbria.

A spokesman said: "The Afternoon Play remained in the schedule and with hindsight we believe it should not have been broadcast. We regret any offence that was caused."