Ananova:

A prostitute has won a record sum on the German version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

Claudia Drexelius, from Bremen, won the equivalent of £350,000 - the highest amount so far this year on the show.

But the 10 million Germans who saw the show included several customers of the 40-year-old who instantly recognised her.

They called RTL television station and gave details of the internet site where she advertised her services.

After being tackled by German media, the new winner admitted she had been working as a prostitute but added that the prize money meant she could now quit.

She said: "This chapter is now closed for me. With the money I won at the show I want to start a new life.

"I am not proud of having worked as a prostitute. But when my boyfriend left me when I was in my thirties, I had no education, no income and heaps of debts. So I started working in this trade."

She had the chance to answer the one million euro question and go for the top prize but elected to keep the 500,000 euros she had already won instead.