A TEAM of quiz experts took part in a television show, competing against some of the brainiest people in Britain.

The manager of Barton’s Mill in Old Basing, Ray Turnbull, was contacted by the producers of Eggheads and asked if he would like to enter a team on to the BBC 2 show.

The 53-year-old, who hosts a quiz night at Barton’s Mill every Thursday, asked his customers who regularly take part in the pub quiz, and managed to put together a team of six called Barton Millers comprising himself along with Jim Andrews, Glen Marsh, Kate Donohoe, Kelvin Gautier and Paul Tottman.

He said: “We went through quite an extensive audition process and they finally gave us a call in December and said they were interested and they wanted us to go and film. There were six of us but only five appeared on TV because one was a substitute. I was team captain.”

Mr Turnbull, who lives in Chineham, is unable to reveal the result of the contest, in which his team competed against some of the country’s top quizzers to win a cash prize.

But he did say: “One thing I can tell you is that the team did superbly.”

He added: “It was really nerve wracking doing the show. We got into the studio at about 9.15am and it’s a large studio and we went through makeup and wardrobe. There’s no studio audience it was just us and the Eggheads and Jeremy Vine who presents the show.

“They made us feel so welcome.”

The episode is due to air in around three months’ time.

Mr Turnbull said the programme paid for the entire trip, including flights to Glasgow for filming, and an overnight stay in a hotel.