The Celebrity Big Brotherrace row turned into an international incident today as protesters burned effigies of the show's organisers on the streets of India and the number of complaints to Ofcom approached 20,000.
Senior politicians in Britain queued up to denounce the treatment of Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty on the Channel 4 show, while the Indian government indicated that it plans to raise the issue with Britain.
Prime Minister Tony Blair told the Commons that "we should oppose racism in all its forms", Tory leader David Cameron urged viewers to switch off in protest and Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain said the attacks on Ms Shetty were " grubby racist behaviour".
Chancellor Gordon Brown - who is on a trip to India - said that the alleged racist remarks on the show were "offensive".
Complaints about the show have flooded in since housemate Jade Goody, her mother Jackiey Budden and boyfriend Jack Tweed, model Danielle Lloyd and former S Club singer Jo O'Meara allegedly began bullying the 31-year-old Indian star.
In one outburst Ms Budden, who constantly called her "the Indian", asked: "Do you live in a house or a shack?"
Mr Blair's official spokesman told reporters at a regular daily briefing this afternoon that it was "clearly to be regretted and countered" if there was any perception abroad that Britain tolerates racism in any way.
He said: "What the response to the programme has shown is precisely the opposite - that there is no level of toleration in this country for anything which, rightly or wrongly, is perceived to be racist."
The spokesman stressed that Mr Blair has not seen the programmes containing the allegedly racist remarks and was not making any comment about the programme itself.
Mr Brown, speaking to local reporters in India earlier today, said: "I understand that in the UK there have already been 10,000 complaints from viewers about these remarks, which people see, rightly, as offensive."
Mr Cameron told BBC Scotland: "I haven't watched this series, I don't intend to, but anyone who does and who doesn't like this racism, there's a great regulator, its called the 'off' button."
Mr Hain told BBC Five Live: "The fact that you've got this kind of grubby racist behaviour and antics, attacking and criticising on ground of her race, a world renowned actress, Indian actress, is completely unacceptable."
Ms Shetty's mother Sunanda told Sky News that it was painful watching her daughter cry on TV. Speaking at her home in Mumbai, she said: "As a mother I find it very painful and alarming to watch my daughter cry.
"To see her cry on TV while a bunch of people abuse her is very painful thing for a parent."
Channel 4 revealed figures showing the row has boosted the number of viewers for Celebrity Big Brother, which had been on the decline since its opening night.
The main highlights programme averaged 4.5 million viewers yesterday, up from 3.5 million on Monday.
In a statement tonight, Channel 4 said there had been "no overt racial abuse or racist behaviour" directed against Ms Shetty. However, it admitted there had "undoubtedly been a cultural and class clash between her and three of the British females in the house."
"Unambiguous racist behaviour and language is not tolerated under any circumstances in the Big Brother house. Housemates are constantly monitored and Channel 4 would intervene if a clear instance of this arose."