THE BBC today refused to reveal whether a rule allowing them to discount viewer votes was used in the Restoration final where Newbridge Memo came second.

It comes as the total number of votes the Memo received during Sunday's grand final remains a complete mystery.

Although the BBC said it "narrowly lost out" on the £3 million prize, it says it could not release the actual voting figures for "logistical reasons".

This is despite the fact it has confirmed the third-place building received nearly 15 per cent of the vote and last year's Restoration programme winner was told the vote tally "almost immediately".

Television production company Endemol, which produced Restoration for the BBC, also produces Big Brother for Channel 4. It was able to give poll details live on last Friday's final show.

The company was unavailable for comment yesterday. Now the Argus can reveal a rule, never publicised on television, means programme producers could have simply "discounted" viewer votes.

The smallprint on the Restoration website explains although members of the public can vote "enthusiastically", they will not accept block voting designed to affect the result and "reserve the right to discount such votes." A spokeswoman for the BBC yesterday refused to confirm or deny whether the rule had been used in Sunday's final.

Howard Stone, chairman of the Friends of Newbridge Memo, said he would be very concerned if the Memo had discounted votes. He said: "A few people were giving us money to vote on their behalf but that is as far as it went.

"I did receive an e-mail before the event saying that block voting would be looked at unfavourably but what I would like to know is did the other finalists get that e-mail as well?"

Mr Stone added that he was still receiving reports of people not being able to vote on the day.