'Blunder' costs Ronan top pop slot

An interview with Keating features on the ineligible copies of his single

Boyzone star Ronan Keating has been dumped from the top of the charts despite selling the most singles, after a record company mistake.

About 125,000 sales of the Irish heart-throb's chart smash Life Is A Rollercoaster have been disqualified from the charts because they broke rules on the use of multimedia on releases.

We have to admit we made a mistake

Polydor spokeswoman

Record company Polydor said the problem arose over a particular format of the single containing a long CD-Rom interview with Keating.

A spokeswoman for Polydor told BBC News Online: "We have to admit we made a mistake and we are hugely disappointed that the single is not number one for a second successive week."

"But we welcome the news that the Chart Supervisory Committee is planning to clarify the extremely complex rules surrounding the use of multimedia."

The formatting mistake left the way clear for all-boy group Five to snatch the top spot from Keating with their cover of Queen's We Will Rock You.

Number one: Jason Brown and Ritchie Neville from Five

The song, which features Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, went straight to the top of the UK charts.

Keating's second solo single had entered the charts at number one last week.

But industry insiders say the record company only has itself to blame for the slip up.

Paul Williams, of Music Week magazine, said: "It does seem extraordinary because the regulations seem to be fairly clear and this record company is a very successful record company and should know the rules."