PRIVATE shareholders could be deprived of up to the minute stock market information in a dispute over the cost of supplying data for television teletext services in Britain.

Both Teletext, available on ITV and Channel 4, and the BBC's Ceefax are fighting proposals by FTSE International to alter the way it charges for its indices of share price movements.

The indicators, including the FTSE 100 Index, which tracks the trend in prices of the 100 largest public companies, give an instant snapshot of market sentiment vital for making investment decisions.