One of the two North-East teams in the world's first Internet pub quiz had a lucky break on Wednesday night when they were joined by a high-profile competitor.

Prime Minister Tony Blair called into the Black Bull pub in Trimdon for a drink and saw how the team was getting on against rivals at Timm's Coffee Shop in Skinningrove, near Loftus.

Mr Blair had been in his Sedgefield constituency for an update on the Trimdon 2000 Project, of which he is president.

He was given updates on the regeneration of the Millennium Green in Trimdon and on the village's Community Festival, to be held this summer. After the meeting, Mr Blair decided to try his luck in the virtual quiz. Both teams had prepared three rounds of general knowledge questions and at 8pm the first round was published on the Tees Valley Communities Online website. It was then projected on to big screens in the two pubs. The County Durham and east Cleveland rivals had 30 minutes to answer each round before their answers were posted online to moderator, Dave Eagle, a lecturer at Teesside University.

The quiz was won by the Skinningrove team.