Adult learning isn't pie in the sky.

ACTOR Richard Griffiths has picked up an off-stage award - for his academic performance.

Griffiths, best known for his role as the restaurant owner-detective in the BBC series Pie In The Sky, was one of six personalities to be given a Gold Award for persevering with further education as an adult.

He had barely any qualifications when he quit his secondary school. But a manager at Littlewoods, where he was working as a porter, persuaded him to enrol on an A-Level course at Stockton and Billingham College, telling him it would help him if he wanted to train for management. Instead of opting for maths as his boss suggested, Griffiths chose drama and never looked back.

The others given awards at a ceremony in the House of Commons were: TV chef Gary Rhodes, Baroness Lockwood, deputy speaker of the House of Lords, Jimmy Choo, footwear designer for the Royals, film animator Marco Marenghi, who works for Steven Speilberg, and playwright Kay Mellor, who wrote the TV series Band Of Gold.

Kay studied A-Levels at Park Lane College in Leeds after working for a lift company. She said: "I joined an amateur dramatic group where I met all these educated, middle class people.

"During this time I read everything I could lay my hands on, spending hours in the library. I realised I was learning things through reading plays.

"My thirst for knowledge grew as I became obsessed by my own ignorance."

David Gibson, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, which organised the awards, said: "The new Gold Awards afford us the opportunity to celebrate the way in which colleges have had a direct impact on students who've gone on to excel in their chosen field."