The show ranked Stoke-on-Trent as the 13th worst place to live

In Location, Location, Location last week the show claimed that one-in-five of the city's families were homeless, a claim its mayor rejected.

The channel has now apologised on its website, admitting there was an error.

The rundown of the best and worst places to live named Stoke as the 13th worst. Producers said the homeless figures did not affects its ranking.

A profile about the city on the Location, Location, Location section of the channel's website previously said Stoke was "one of the most depressed - and depressing - areas in the country".

It said: "Nearly one-in-five families here is officially homeless - stuck in B&Bs and hostels."

'Unintentional error'

That figure has now been removed and an apology has been posted on the front page of the show's website section.

The statement said that a note at the bottom of the table of Department for Health statistics was "misinterpreted by the producers".

The statement said: "Channel 4 and IWC Media wish to apologise to the mayor and people of Stoke-on-Trent for this unfortunate and unintentional error.

Mr Meredith said the show was a "grave insult" to Stoke

"As soon as this came to light immediate steps were taken to remove the erroneous statistic from all future repeats of the programme and the programme website."

Stoke's elected mayor Mark Meredith wrote to the channel's chairman to complain last week. He said the figures would mean there were 20,000 homeless families in the city, compared to the actual figure of just 13.

On Wednesday Mr Meredith said: "I was appalled when I first saw the programme. It was a grave insult - a slur on the people of Stoke-on-Trent and on the staff at the city council who work so hard to prevent homelessness.