The next series of hugely popular television programme The Apprentice is to be delayed so as to avoid clashes with the coverage of the Brazil World Cup.

Lord Sugar confirmed the news on social networking site Twitter, telling fans: “It won't be on until Autumn of 2014 to avoid the World Cup.”

He also confirmed that the next series of Junior Apprentice had been put on hold indefinitely, telling his fans that the decision was not up to him and urging them to “ask the BBC” for more details.

A source told The Mirror that the television network's decision was not popular with Lord Sugar: "Lord Sugar loved Young Apprentice and felt he was helping youngsters learn about business. He felt a show like that should not be all about ratings and was providing a valuable tool."

The Apprentice premise sees a group of keen business men and women from across the UK compete to be selected as Lord Sugar’s business partner and earn funding totalling