A BARROW couple narrowly missed out on scooping the jackpot on TV quiz Pointless.

Ian and Judith Walmsley swept to the final round of the popular gameshow only to miss out on £1,000 in prize money by one point.

Tasked with coming up with lesser-known words in popular national anthem, the pair managed to find an answer known - agonisingly - by only one person.

They had beat the competition to take the coveted trophy and make the final of the Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman quiz, scoring well on missing words from book titles and oil-producing countries.

The latter consoled the pair after missed out on the jackpot, saying: "That has go to go down as one of the unluckiest finals... I'm glad it wasn't for £20,000.

"I know it's bad - but it could've been even worse."

The couple, who are both 58 and live in Yealand Drive, reflected on coming within a whisker of the top prize.

Mr Walmsley, a part-time lecturer in project management, said: "We were frustratingly close but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

"It would have been the icing on the cake to win the money but we went on for the experience.

"We had so much fun and we had a load of laughs.

"We like quizzes and we were pleased to win the trophy."

The couple said they had received a host of messages of support following their TV appearance.

They also revealed behind the scenes secrets of the show.

They said the studio is much smaller than it looks on the small screen.

And contestants must bring five different outfits to find one suitable for the cameras.

Mr Walmsley said his love of international rugby had given him the advantage of knowing the words to national anthem.

But the couple found it difficult to explain where Mrs Walmsley, a retired A&E manager, drew her knowledge of obscure oil-producing countries from.