Firm responsible for counting Oscars votes apologises for Best Film blunder

The mix-up saw the musical announced as the victor due to duplicate sets of cards, held by the only two people who knew the results, being mistakenly handed out to presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.

A statement from accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) said: " We sincerely apologise to Moonlight, La La Land, Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for best picture.

"We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred.

"We appreciate the grace with which the nominees, the Academy, ABC, and Jimmy Kimmel handled the situation."

Beatty and Dunaway had been given a card that revealed that La La Land's Emma Stone was the leading actress winner, prompting them to incorrectly announce the musical as the winner.

Backstage, a confused Stone later said that she was still holding her winner's card in her hand when best picture was announced, but there are in fact two identical sets of cards.

Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz from PWC, the tax partner to the awards ceremony, were forced to intervene on stage amidst the confusion and chaos.

The major blunder came at the very end of the Oscars' ceremony, which was the worst for British talent in a decade.

The producers of La La Land were coming to the end of their acceptance speeches before it was revealed there had been a mix-up and that Moonlight was the victor of the coveted accolade.

La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz announced the error to the audience, holding up the correct card with the best picture winner, as he said: "There's a mistake. Moonlight you guys won best picture.

"This is no joke. I'm afraid they read the wrong thing. This is not a joke, Moonlight, you won best picture."

MORE: IN PICTURES: All the glitz and glam of The OscarsBeatty returned to the microphone to say: "I want to tell you what happened, I opened the envelope and it said Emma Stone, La La Land, and that is why I took such a long look at Faye and at you.

"I wasn't trying to be funny. This is Moonlight for best picture."