Telewest has secured the approval - in principle - of its main debtholders which will see the indebted cable company swap 98.5 per cent of its debt for new equity. That leaves existing shareholders with 1.5 per cent of the equity.

There's still a long way to go before Telewest comes out of the other side of the capital restructer - the bondholder's committee which waved through the deal must persuade 26 creditor banks to accept the terms.

Free from debt, Telewest will be free to pursue the long-mooted merger with NTL, the bigger UK cable operator.

Telewest's press statement is telewest_communications_restructuring_progress.htmlhere®