Lawyers hit jackpot in the pub quiz row that will be settled in court

It was just another Monday night quiz in the conservatory of the King's Arms, Bedford, where locals gathered for a pint and a weekly challenge to their general knowledge.

It was just another Monday night quiz in the conservatory of the King's Arms, Bedford, where locals gathered for a pint and a weekly challenge to their general knowledge.

There was the usual exchange of banter between the 60 or so team members, the ritual paper-throwing and the amicable booing for that night's winners. A mild altercation between the quizmaster, Tony Barclay, and a punter about the answers to the jackpot question, worth £210, was dismissed by Mr Barclay as an occupational hazard.

Little did he know that the jackpot question - the last of the night - would still be in dispute, in the courts, more than 18 months after he called it out on 2 December 2002.

The question - which asked teams to name the first five regular presenters of the National Lottery, has led to a bizarre wrangle that has ended up in Luton County Court, at a cost of thousands of pounds.

The dispute, which is due to be settled by a judge in January, was sparked when a player, Dave Crane, put Noel Edmonds in his list of answers. The inclusion was noted as an error by the quizmaster as Edmonds had only hosted one show.

Mr Crane's team, called No Fear, lost out on the jackpot, although they did lay claim to a free drink after winning the "Landlord's Round".

Over the course of the following days, Mr Crane, 39, from Bedford, is alleged to have defamed the questionmaster 10 times on his team's website.

Mr Barclay, 44, from Rushden, Northamptonshire, claims to have amassed legal bills of £10,000 in an effort to get Mr Crane to retract the alleged statements and in pursuing a libel case against him.

Mr Crane, who was made redundant from his work as a school IT consultant last year and is "passionate" about quizzes, said the case was completely ridiculous. "I honestly don't know what can be achieved by kicking up a fuss over a pretty minor case," he said.

But he has refused to retract his assertions, claiming that he was making an honest comment. "I honestly believe what I said. I was 100 per cent sure of the original answer on the night. I would have bet my life on it," he said.

His team has been together for seven years, attending at least two quizzes a week, and he has travelled to various cities to attend live quiz shows, including The Weakest Link, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? and the making of Countdown.

Mr Barclay, a popular local entertainer, who has been organising quizzes and compering for 14 years, said the dispute had already cost him thousands of pounds and a great deal of unwanted stress.

"I had legal representation until Christmas last year but the cost was becoming disproportionate to the argument. I will be the first to say that this is absolutely outrageous ... All I have ever wanted is my costs back and I have never sought damages.

"I spend three to four days researching the Monday night quizzes and I'm fairly strong on sport and entertainment. People at the quiz nights come from all walks of life and it is a bit of escapism designed to help people unwind and test their general knowledge," he said.

£210 QUESTION

Q. Who were the first five regular presenters of the National Lottery?

A. Anthea Turner, Dale Winton, Bob Monkhouse, Carol Smillie and Terry Wogan

From www.lottery.merseyworld.com