The advertising watchdog has severely rebuked a shopping channel owned by the Daily Express's proprietor, Richard Desmond, for giving airtime to a TV evangelist selling so-called "miracle" spring water and soap that claimed to cure serious illnesses, including cancer and Aids.

After an intervention by the Advertising Standards Authority, which upheld 11 different counts of misleading viewers and causing offence, Portland, the sister company of OK! and Express publisher, Northern & Shell, handed back its licence.

The watchdog described how a TV evangelist called Reverend Peter Popoff was shown "healing" a woman he claimed had a stomach tumour.

He also claimed that viewers who bought the Miracle Spring Water would receive money, be offered a house and a car, be healed from health problems including allergies, chest pain and heartburn, and would lose weight.

Another TV evangelist, who called himself Dr Paul Lewis, was shown promoting the benefits of Miracle Olive Oil Soap.

The adverts were criticised for exploiting vulnerable viewers and not offering "reputable scientific evidence".

Portland initially claimed it had sub-licensed the channel to a third party. It later accepted it had broken the rules, stopped the broadcast of Deal TV and surrendered its Ofcom licence.

A Deal TV spokesman said to the best of his knowledge the company no longer had anything to do with Northern & Shell.