OWNER of the award-winning Percy's Country Hotel and Restaurant at Coombeshead Tony Bricknell-Webb will be watched by millions this Christmas as he pits his wits against the 'Queen of Mean' Anne Robinson in a one-off edition of The Weakest Link.

Following a number of recent accolades, including the Westcountry 'Small Hotel of the Year', the hotelier is facing a completely new challenge —this time all for the good of local charity, The Devon Air Ambulance.

The hugely popular TV show, which regularly attracts between four and five million viewers, will feature nine contestants, all of whom are hoping to boost the fortunes of their chosen charity.

The twist of the show is that all the challengers are already millionaires, having made their fortunes in completely diverse ways.

Tony Bricknell-Webb, who along with his wife Tina runs the 130 acre Percy's estate, started his career as a claims clerk for Legal and General and then went on to own a chain of betting shops which were later sold to William Hill.

Since 1996 when the couple opened the hotel and restaurant they have won a steady stream of awards and Tina was a finalist in ITV Chef of the Year in 2000.

Other contestants on The Weakest Link special include a course bookmaker, the owner of Anne Summers, a race horse trainer, an investment banker, an international florist, the owner of a dot com company, a London property developer and a lottery winner.

Since filming Tony has remained tight-lipped and even his wife does not known how he fared. All will be revealed when the show is screened on BBC2 on December 21 at 5.15pm.

'All I will say is that Anne is a pussy cat,' said Tony, who inspired the one-off show when he told programme makers at an audition in Plymouth about his life.

'One of the questions I always ask candidates at interview is would they appear on The Weakest Link and they always say no. Staff felt it was about time I had a go because I am addicted to the show.

'When they heard all about the famous hotel, the estate and the fact that I bred race horses, they thought "Hey this guy has got a lot of money let's make a programme about it."

But it was not all plain sailing — a blunder by the rail company resulted in him nearly missing the filming and he arrived at Pinewood Studios in a bit of a panic.

'What finally relaxed me was the wardrobe lady who was ectastic about the pink Armani shirt I bought as we were told our clothes had to be bright not dowdy,' continued Tony.

For someone whose wife puts clothes out for him in the morning because he does not have the first idea this was a major compliment.

'I was like a fish out of water going into an Armani shop. I may be a millionaire but I had never handed over two £50 notes and got £1 back in change for an item of clothing before.'

From then on, the show was a 'huge giggle' and Tony said he had a fantastic time: ' Because it was for charity it was a lot of fun and I had all my tactics worked out.

'I chose the Devon Air Ambulance as my charity because it offers such a critical, invaluable and frequently used service within the region.'

Tune in on December 21 to find out if Mr Percy brings home the bacon!