While Carrie Bradshaw’s Manolo Blahnik shoes seemed to have their own storyline in Sex and the City, in Britain, Inspector Morse was never seen mulling a murder case with a pint of Ruddles, nor was Peggy Mitchell ever spotted struggling back to the Old Vic with a Somerfield carrier bag.

But by next year, Britain’s commercial broadcasters could have its fictional mothers mentioning that they’re going to Waitrose while the fathers are off to B&Q. They could even be seen with some Duchy Originals Shortbread and a Black & Decker drill.

Ben Bradshaw, the Culture Secretary, is expected to signal this week that the Government is to reverse its ban on product placement, allowing broadcasters for the first time to advertise products within their own programmes and raise much needed revenue.

Product placement has been common practice in America but banned in the UK over concerns that it would blur the boundaries between editorial and advertising.

As recently as March, Andy Burnham, the former Culture Secretary, said he had “serious concerns” about lifting the ban. But in a speech to the Royal Television Society this week, Mr Bradshaw, a former BBC journalist, is expected to announce a three-month consultation on the issue and also indicate that he is strongly in favour of dropping the ban.

The shift in the rules will apply only to commercial broadcasters, with the BBC still prevented from promoting products, even when programmes are made by independent production companies.

Commercial broadcasters welcomed the U-turn as a much needed source of new funds. It marks a significant victory for Michael Grade, the non-executive chairman of ITV, the media group that led calls for product placement.

It is expected that broadcasters will be able to use product placement from early next year. According to industry estimates, the value of revenue derived from product placement could be as high as £60 million a year.

It is thought that Ofcom, the communications regulator, will draw up guidelines for participating broadcasters and that product placement will only be permitted within entertainment programmes, rather than current affairs broadcasts.

It is not known whether children’s television makers will allowed to use product placement. A European Parliament directive that came into force almost two years ago permits product placement in sport and light entertainment programmes, if national governments allowed it. Most other EU nations have decided to lift restrictions.

ITV, which has been the most vocal of the broadcasters in arguing for a change in the law, welcomed the decision. A spokesman for the company said: “ITV plc has led the campaign for product placement in the UK, which could be an important new revenue stream — as it already is in Europe.

“Reforming the UK prohibition would also be a welcome acknowledgement of the pressures currently faced by an industry in transition. New sources of revenue means better funded content, which can only be good news for viewers.”

Although Andy Duncan, the Channel 4 chief executive, has publicly denounced product placement in the past, the broadcaster, which does not make its own programmes, is understood to have no strong feelings over the issue, provided it can find a way of taking a cut of revenues from programme makers. Otherwise the company would effectively be letting brands advertise on its airtime free.

Any move that swells the coffers of commercial operators in such lean times will be welcomed by the BBC because it helps to shift the focus from the comparatively rude financial health of the publicly funded broadcaster. The corporation hopes that the announcement is a sign that the Government is less likely to go ahead with “top-slicing” the licence fee.

Lord Carter of Barnes’s Digital Britain report set out plans to take around £130 million from the television tax to fund regional news on ITV.

TalkbackThames, producer of programmes such as The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, said that the decision was “a very positive move for the industry, in particular at a time when all commercial broadcasters are feeling the pinch and advertising revenue is declining”. A spokeswoman added: “If done properly product placement won’t compromise the editorial integrity of a programme.”

However, Richard Lindley, the chairman of Voice of the Listener and Viewer, said: “We believe that product placement destroys the trust of viewers in the programmes they are watching.”

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