A NORTH-EAST man struck it rich with the help of his university tutor.

Chris Payne, an English teacher at Blakeston School, in Stockton, won £125,000 on ITV's Who Wants to be a Millionaire? on Saturday.

After sailing through the previous questions, the 44-year-old was slightly unsure on the answer to the £125,000 question and phoned a friend.

He contacted his Open University English tutor Sheila Lawes, from Hurworth, County Durham, who told him the novel Far From the Madding Crowd took its name from a line in a poem written by Thomas Gray.

Mr Payne said that as an English teacher he should have known the answer, but said he was not certain enough it was correct.

The phone-a-friend lifeline was the last one available to Mr Payne after he used his ask-the-audience on the £16,000 question and his 50/50 on the £32,000 question.

Mrs Lawes said: "I was just about to take the dog out when they rang.

"I was nervous when I found out the question was worth £125,000 but as soon as Chris Tarrant read the question, I knew it straight away.

"I was tremendously relieved."

Mr Payne, from Billingham, plans to leave his job at the school and start a business as a driving instructor.