Were you a fool this April?

Traditionally April Fool’s day is when journalists across the country rack their brains for bizarre stories about mutant animals and spaghetti harvests just so they can con the public for a day. And this year was no exception – we had flying penguins on the BBC in a spoof 'Miracles of Evolution' documentary, French president Nicolas Sarkozy decided to undergo stretch treatment to add inches to his height in The Sun and Gordon Ramsey banned restaurant swearing in The Independent.

The Meridian and Thames Valley news teams were no exception and entered into the sprit in style.

Weather man Simon Parkin went out to Oxfordshire to try and spot the mass April Fool in Henley-on-Thames. Villagers clubbed together in a two week long prank set as a competition by councillors. Ever seen a slimming sausage filled only with air? Well, they’re on special offer now in Oxfordshire!

Artist Jonathan Truss uploaded these scary photos of a leopard at large in his Bournemouth garden. But if you’re panicking about the beast reaching your garden then fear not as he won’t be getting very far – he’s stuffed.


The air show in Eastbourne is set for a different look this year with some special flying formations. However, instead of the Red Arrows, or the Tigers Parachute team, they've got a more unusual team lined up. Pigeons from across Sussex have started training for Eastbourne Airborne and we set reporter Charles Lambert to see how they are getting on…

If you have some great April Fool pranks you’d like to share you can email us here.