THE BBC has announced it is to move Castaway from its current prime-time slot after ratings hit an all-time low.

Only 2.1 million viewers tuned-in on Sunday to watch Bolton islander Erica Hurst and her fellow contestants as they voted Jason Ross off the island.

From April 15, the hour-long 9pm show will be scrapped in favour of three half-hour episodes at 7pm on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays - putting it up against ITV1's Emmerdale.

Sunday's ratings figure was one of the BBC's lowest ever for a Sunday prime-time series.

The BBC1 launch show, which saw the group arrive for a 12-week stay on New Zealand's Great Barrier Island, attracted 4.1 million viewers.

A BBC spokesman said: "The feeling is that maybe Castaway needed to reach the audience in a different way.

"We are trying something new and there will now be an extra half-an-hour of programming each week."

Last night's BBC3 catch-up show saw 22-year-old Erica, a former lapdancer, from Kearsley, struggling with the other islanders as their water pump ran dry.

Viewers also saw that unpopular castaway Jonathan, who Erica had voted for at the weekend, was keeping a second supply secret.

Erica still has islander Al to lean-on, as viewers saw footage of him cosying up to the female contestants.

When asked if he fancied any of them, Al said: "Erica, at a push."