'Millionaire cheat' suspects bailed

Major Charles Ingram and his wife have been arrested

Three people arrested by Metropolitan Police over allegations of cheating on ITV's popular quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? have been released on bail.

A £1m winner on the show, Major Charles Ingram, 38, and his wife Diana, 37, were arrested at their home in Wiltshire at the same time as college lecturer Tecwen Whittock was arrested in Cardiff.

Tecwen Whittock: Denied cheating

All three have been questioned by officers from the Metropolitan's Special Inquiry Team at police stations in Cardiff and Wiltshire over allegations of conspiracy to defraud.

The police inquiry revolves around Major Ingram's win on the quiz show in September after which it was alleged he had been helped to the £1m prize by cheating with a system of coded coughing in the audience

The programme-makers have refused to make the £1m payout to Major Ingram until the police investigation is completed.

On Friday morning, Major Ingram, who serves with the Royal Engineers, said little as he scraped ice from his car outside his home in the village of Easterton.

"I can't make any comment at the moment. All I can say is that this is the first opportunity we've had to put our side of the story over," he said

"The time will come when we can talk freely."

Mr Whittock, 51, has always maintained that he coughed innocently during Major's Ingram winning round.

"Yes, I did cough while the major was in the hot seat - but many other people in the studio did too," he said at the time.

Police arrived at his home in Whitchurch at 0700 GMT on Thursday and took him to a nearby city police station for questioning where it is understood his solicitor was also present.

Chris Tarrant: Host of 'Millionaire'

Police also searched his chalet-style bungalow to look for documents linking him to Major Ingram.

Mr Whittock's wife Gillian and the couple's children were not answering the door later on Thursday.

The business lecturer had been an earlier contestant on the show hosted by Chris Tarrant, but had stumbled on the £8,000 question and had left with just £1,000 in prize-money.

The father-of-four said he has never met Major Ingram or his wife Diane, who is from the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales, and who won £32,000 on an earlier edition of the show.

Mr Whittock lives just 20 miles away from the Major's brother-in-law and previous Millionaire winner Adrian Pollock, from St Hilary in the vale.

He won £32,000 last December, but has been facing bankruptcy proceedings after his business went bust.

Adrian Pollock and Diana Ingram wrote a book based on their experiences of the best way to get on the show - and the best chance to go all the way to the big prize.

Major Ingram has always denied cheating on the show. He announced in September that he had instructed his solicitors to take legal action against the makers of the programme, Celador.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police confirmed three arrests had been made in connection with an allegation of conspiracy to defraud.

"All three have been arrested in connection with an ongoing investigation by the Special Inquiry Team into an alleged deception on a television programme, " said a spokesman for the force.

"Searches of both addresses have been carried out."