MICHAEL Green, once the darling of the City, was hung out to dry yesterday by the institution that helped make him a multi-millionaire.

The Carlton Communications chairman and chairman-designate of the new ITV plc was blocked in his bid to lead the conglomerate of his own firm and rival Granada.

Fidelity Investments, the largest shareholder of both Granada and Carlton, led a campaign to stop Mr Green realising his ambition of leading an ITV run by one company.

Anthony Bolton, a fund manager with Fidelity Investments, who is nicknamed the Quiet Assassin, is widely tipped to take that role when the merger is completed in January.

Mr Green's bid to hold on to his role as chairman-designate of ITV ended when merger pair Granada and Carlton bowed to pressure from investors.

William Baker Baker, from the Teesside office of North-East stockbrokers Wise Speke, said: "Shareholders took the view that the newly formed company did not require both of them as heads.

"The City was not at all prepared to allow strong personalities to jeopardise what is considered to be one of the most positive mergers of recent times, proving that no one individual is more important than the deal itself."

Mr Green ultimately paid the price for the collapse of ITV Digital a year earlier.

He helped set up Carlton more than 20 years ago and had been one of the main forces in the drive to create a single ITV - a move endorsed two weeks ago when the Government backed Granada and Carlton's £4.6bn merger.

Mr Green, Carlton's chairman, was due to take a similar role in ITV, with Granada counterpart Charles Allen becoming chief executive.

Those plans foundered when it emerged the largest shareholder in both Granada and Carlton had set a deadline of midday today for Mr Green's removal.

Granada agreed to the request following a board meeting on Monday night before Carlton followed suit after an emergency meeting yesterday morning.