PAT GARSIDE proved she was the strongest link by walking away with £4,850.

She survived acid Anne Robinson test in the big-money version of the Weakest Link, and is going to spend her winnings flying to see the grandsons in Australia she has never met and her 15-year-old granddaughter, Jessica, whom she last saw when she was two.

Pat of Station Road, Padiham, described the experience as nerve-racking and said: "Off screen Anne Robinson is pleasant but when the cameras are rolling she turns into Cruella De Vil.