QUIZ whizz Bill Honeywell is £250,000 better off thanks to 13 questions, two lifelines...and more than a little help from one brainy friend!

The 51-year-old from West Bradford, near Clitheroe, spent 30 gruelling minutes sat opposite Chris Tarrant on Saturday's edition of the hit TV quiz Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

And when he got stuck on the £250,000 question, he turned to a friend called Brian, who knew the answer straight away!

The question, Al Oerter won four Olympic gold medals in which athletic event?, flummoxed estate agent and chartered surveyor Bill, but his friend Brian - described as a local government officers by Chris Tarrant - told him the answer before even being told the four options.

Bill, whose wife Val sat in the audience for the show, used up his last lifeline on the next question, In Greek mythology, who is the son of Odysseuss?, to remove two of the four possible answers and opted to keep the £250,000 he'd won rather than punt for £500,000.

He told an amused audience: "Val'd never forgive me if I threw all that money away on a guess."

Starring on a quiz was not a new experience to Bill, who was not at his home yesterday.

The Rotarian came runner up in Britain's Brainiest Estate Agent in 2002.