Newbury couple fall short in Channel 4's Hunted

Pair were caught outside friend's house in Newbury, while another Berkshire pair are victorious

A NEWBURY couple who were on the run in Channel 4 reality TV series Hunted were caught in the final episode last night, narrowly missing out on a share of the £100,000 prize money.

Ella Tomkins and her partner Jessica Warr, who met when they were pupils at St Bartholomew’s School, made it to the final six in the show, which challenges members of the public to stay one step ahead of a team of specially-trained ‘hunters’.

Having been tracked by the hunters to Newbury in last week’s cliffhanger, the duo were cornered in woodland outside of their friend’s house.

Ms Tomkins was caught first, before an anxious wait to see if Ms Warr would be able to make an unlikely escape.

She took cover in a dense thicket, but – surrounded by hunters – she couldn’t hide forever and it wasn’t long before she too was captured.

Upon being caught, Ms Warr said: “Being on the run has been the most challenging yet exhilarating experience I’ve ever done in my life.

“There is literally no let up. Me and Ella had to be lucky every single day – the hunters only had to be lucky once.”

Ms Tomkins added: “My experience on the run was absolutely life-changing.

“The fact that Jess and I got to do it together is something that I will cherish forever.”

Despite the girls’ disappointment, there was some local success as Ben Arrowsmith – who attended The Downs School in Compton and now works as a plumber in Pangbourne – and his best friend Rob Ellington from Wokingham, both aged 25, made it to the extraction point in Amlwch Port on the north coast of Anglesey.

The pair scooped £25,000 each.