A FORMER radio Brain of Sport is set to take the famous TV hot seat when he appears in Mastermind later this month.

But Derek Heyes is far from the BBC2 quiz show's usual contestant.

For the Horwich teacher has been blind since he was six and says he has been preparing for this moment of fame ever since.

When he was in his early 20s, a competitive Mr Heyes, now aged 54, decided he could never be top in a sport because of his disability.

So he decided sports knowledge was the way to go and he never looked back. "I am a very competitive person and I wanted to be the best at something," said Mr Heyes, "not just better than a few people - but the best!

"I've always loved sports, but knew I would never be able to beat everyone at it, so this seemed the only way."

Mr Heyes, of Fearnhead Avenue, Horwich, was already knowledgeable in his favourite sports - cricket, football and horse racing - so he began to learn as much as he could about as many sports as possible.

"My dad used to record information on to cassettes for me to listen to on other sports, so it was quite easy really," he said.

In 1980, he entered the BBC's Brain of Sport competition and came third. The next year, he was the winner.

Now he has turned his attention to general as well as sporting knowledge and is due to put his skills to the ultimate test when he faces John Humphrys on national television.

Filming takes place on April 27 and Mr Heyes, who teaches business studies and history at Rivington and Blackrod High School, is already feeling the heat.

"My specialist subject is Manchester United and, having supported them all my life, I have to do well on that," he said. "But I hope I manage to do okay on the general knowledge or I'll never live it down at school."

A spokesman for the show said: "We have a few partially-sighted contestants lined up for the new series, but it is fairly unusual to have someone who is totally blind.

"The Home Secretary, David Blunkett, did take part in a Christmas special last year, so it has been done before."

Mastermind will be shown later this year, when viewers will be able to see how far Mr Heyes gets in the knockout series.