Discussions on the daytime show often get heated

Ufi, which runs the Learndirect adult learning service, said continuing the deal would not "protect and enhance" its reputation.

A judge branded the ITV1 show "a form of human bear-baiting" after a guest was sentenced for head-butting another.

The show has also denied that an alcoholic guest was plied with lager.

On Tuesday, District Judge Alan Berg said the ITV1 daytime programme was "trash" and existed to "titillate bored members of the public with nothing better to do".

The judge made the comments while sentencing one of the show's guests, who head-butted his love rival during filming earlier this year, for assault.

'Not goaded'

Earlier, the show's producers strongly denied claims that a guest on the programme was encouraged to drink lager.

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Peter Davies, 37, from Cheshire, alleged that studio staff kept bringing him beer and said they were "stirring me up for a fight".

But Mr Davies "was not encouraged to drink", a spokesman for the programme insisted, adding the guest was not goaded before going on stage.

The show, which has 1.5m viewers, sees guests discuss personal problems in front of a live audience.

A spokesperson for the government's communications body, the Central Office of Information (COI), said: "The criticism of the show - sparked by Judge Alan Berg's remarks earlier this week - means that both Ufi and the COI consider it no longer appropriate for Learndirect to be associated with the programme."