DISGRACED TV quiz show cheat Charles Ingram has resigned from the Army after being asked to leave by military bosses.

The £1m Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? cheat announced his resignation at a press conference in the garden of his Easterton home on Thursday.

Ingram, 39, who won the £1m jackpot with the help of a fellow contestant and a series of coded coughs, has been given an administrative discharge, which means he keeps his rank and pension.

The former Royal Engineer, who with his wife Diana was found guilty of deception at Southwark Crown Court in April, said: "Knowing the embarrassment which recent court proceedings have caused the Army, and on receipt of direction from the Army Board, I have regretfully resigned my commission."

"My service in the Army is and will remain a source of pride. I very much regret that the pressures associated with recent events have made it impossible for me to complete my full term of military service."

Although the couple are banned by law from profiting from their crimes in the UK, there have been offers of work from abroad.

"Since I am no longer a serving officer, I am free to respond to some of the more extravagant speculations in the press concerning my future," Ingram said.

"For a start, I am not and have never been a spy for the Chinese government. Also, regretfully, I am not contracted to advertise any brand of cough medicine. Am I a rich man? No, I am just an Army officer, or rather a retired Army officer, who has fought and lost a costly legal action."

The family, which will lose their home rented on their behalf by the Army, is taking a holiday before looking to the future. The couple have three young daughters.

The Ingrams were each fined £15,000, told to pay £10,000 costs, and received 18-month prison sentences suspended for two years, after the high profile trial.

Tecwen Whittock, 53, was fined £10,000, with £7,500 costs, and given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years, for his part in the scam.