The row over the treatment of the 31-year-old Indian star on the Channel 4 TV reality show turned into an international incident yesterday as effigies of the programme's organisers were burned on the streets of India.

As the number of complaints being made to the broadcasting regulator Ofcom neared a staggering 20,000 - and as the programme ratings continued to soar amid the publicity - the DUP's Ian Paisley Jnr joined forces with senior UK politicians and warned the public not to "feed the frenzy".

"The racist comments and attitudes are disgraceful and they must be condemned," he said.

"It is exactly what the Big Brother producers want - people talking about the show. And in a perverse way, viewers are feeding the frenzy. The best thing to do would be to ignore the programme."

Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, Secretary of State Peter Hain branded the racist comments as "grubby".

"The broadcasters and those responsible for producing the programme should look very, very carefully and look hard at their own responsibilities and their own consciences," he said.

"And to have this grubby, racist behaviour in the world today is unacceptable and was always unacceptable."

Meanwhile, Chancellor Gordon Brown - who is currently in India to improve international relations - was dragged into the racism row.

He said: "I want Britain to be seen as a country of fairness and tolerance. Anything detracting from this I condemn."

Although Big Brother is not aired in India, a huge furore over the programme has ensued and the Indian media has branded the programme Bigot Brother.

India's junior minister for external affairs, Anand Sharma, is also said to be considering a formal approach to the UK.

Both of India's leading papers gave the story front-page coverage, while

ews channels also showed clips of the allegedly racist remarks made against the actress.

They referred to her as "the Indian", made fun of her accent and accused her of wanting to be more light-skinned.

The housemates in the spotlight include Jade Goody, who achieved fame by appearing in Big Brother 3, as well as Danielle Lloyd, a former Miss Great Britain, and Jo O'Meara, former singer with pop act S Club 7.

However, in a statement Shetty's family said they were "overwhelmed by the outpouring of public support".

Bookmakers William Hill have now made Shetty favourite to win Celebrity Big Brother.