BUSINESSMAN Gavin Wheeldon won masses of praise from TV's Dragon's Den millionaires last night - but missed out with his £250,000 bid.

The entrepreneur, founder of Applied Language Solutions, of Armitage Bridge, managed to persuade Duncan Ballantyne to offer £125,000 for a stake in his business in front of millions on BBC2 viewers last night.

But none of the other four multi-millionaires on the panel could be tempted to risk an investment.

So Gavin returned home empty-handed.

He wanted an audacious £250,000 in return for a 4% share of the business he started in his back bedroom.

Ballantyne, who wanted a 9% share for his investment, told him he was "pretty clever".

And Monaco-based Richard Farley told Gavin he was the reason his business had done so well in "a very competitive area".