BRAINY Peter Gaynor walked away with £64,000 after hitting the jackpot on TV's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire -- but was kicking himself after missing out on an extra £61,000 by the width of a piece of paper.

Peter, 46, of Nelson, kept smiling and kept his cool as quiz master Chris Tarrant turned up the heat whilst millions of viewers watched last night.

The salesman with a packaging firm in Bradford, gave up on the chance of winning £125,000 even though "ask the audience gave him the right answer to the question "Which of these paper sizes is the largest?"

Afterwards he explained how he single-mindedly went for "gold".

"It's very exciting taking part in the show. I just had to clear my mind and concentrate on answering the questions. It's a matter of trying to put all the distractions to one side and concentrate. Once you're there in the hot seat you've got to trust your own judgement and be positive." Peter "phoned a friend" on the £32,000 question: "What colour does litmus turn when in contact with acid?"

Fortunately he could call on David Perry, a science teacher for 25 years at Walshaw High School, Burnley. "I was dreading what I was going to be asked but when I heard 'litmus' I breathed a sigh of relief," said David. "If I'd got it wrong I would never have been able to live it down; I'd have been shot at dawn." He gave the correct answer as red.

The show is filmed at Elstree Studios, London, where James Bond movies are shot. Like the action hero Peter kept cool and unshaken until he decided to call it a day.

His own instinct, and the votes of the audience, chose the right answer on the £125,000 question -- Imperial -- but he decided not to gamble and face losing £32,000.

His partner Carolyn was in the studio audience enthusiastically cheering Peter on and was understandably delighted with his winnings. The couple, who have three children Nicola, 16, Stuart, 14, and Katie, 13, have not decided what to spend the money on. I've put the cheque in the bank but it doesn't clear until Friday," said Peter. "We've not had chance to talk about it really. We've no immediate plans."

Peter, who is a bit of quiz buff, said he was confident of doing well. "I thought I was capable of getting to the £64,000 question but then one of the first questions was about migratory birds and I thought 'what the heck am I going to do if they're all like this?'"