Apprentice could face BBC poll axe; TELEVISION.

Byline: MARK JEFFERIES

BBC bosses are set to shunt Lord Alan Sugar's hit show The Apprentice off the box next year.

The Tories had complained his role - and his new seat as a Labour peer - could be seen as giving unfair publicity in the run-up to the General Election.

The BBC Trust decided his slot posed a "greater than normal risk to the impartiality, integrity and independence of the corporation".

It means the series, which runs from March until June, will be delayed months until after polling day which must held by June 3.

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BARON SCHEDULE Sugar