COLNE'S maths master and word wizard David Roe will go in to the Countdown quarter-final seeded sixth after holding out as champion for four rounds.

David, a chartered accountant at Ashworth Mould and Co, in Burnley, was finally beaten in his fifth TV appearance when he came unstuck in one of the word games.

He opted for a possible nine letter word 'unplaited' but after checking with the dictionary judges disallowed the word and as a result he lost the game.

David, referred to as a 'cunning customer' and a 'wily Lancastrian' by presenter Richard Whiteley, will now return to our TV screens next week to battle for a place in the semi-finals.