A quiz-mad councillor from Chesham narrowly missed out on winning thousands of pounds on popular ITV gameshow The Chase.

Chiltern District Councillor and member of Chiltern Quiz League, Peter Jones, joined three other teammates on the daytime programme, which sees contestants compete against a quiz mastermind – known as a “chaser” – in the hope of winning a cash prize.

However it was not meant to be for Cllr Jones and his last remaining teammate, Warjinder, who both came within a second of winning the joint £60,000 jackpot during the nail-biting final round.

The show, which aired on February 28, sparked a Twitter storm among frustrated viewers who claimed the clock was stopped briefly on the last second, in order to give chaser, The Governess, an advantage.

Cllr Jones, who represents Ballinger, South Heath and Chartridge, said: “The last three minutes was the crucial bit – we lost by one question, or one second.

“You get the jackpot or you get nothing. But it is something you only get to do once so you can’t really practice for it.

“I really messed up the first part and was quite good at the second and third part. Because I messed the first part up I just went for it the second time round because I had nothing to lose.

“I was reasonably confident – I gave a good game.”

If he won the jackpot, Cllr Jones said he had planned to spend the money on going to San Siro football stadium in Italy to see AC Milan play.

However, despite losing the cash, the Liberal Democrat said the main disappointment was not getting to meet the chasers once filming had finished.

He said: “It takes a whole day from beginning to end. And the host Bradley Walsh is really nice – he is exactly like he is on TV.

“The one part I was disappointed at is that you don’t get to meet the chasers. Usually after a football game or whatever you meet up and have a chat, so it would have been nice to talk to them.”

Leader of Chiltern District Council, Isobel Darby, briefly interrupted Wednesday’s budget meeting to praise Cllr Jones for his performance on the programme. 

She said: “I must admit I only just got here this evening as I was absolutely glued to my television tonight watching you on The Chase, and I am so very sorry that you came within one second of winning £30,000 – you did marvellously.”