The April Fool joke is alive and well in the regional press, with the Skegness Standard managing to fool the local TV news – and attract an imitation in The Sun.

The paper told how a group of penguins had come ashore at the resort, pulled off course by freak weather linked to global warming.

Their appearance followed a (real) sperm whale being washed up at the same place last month, attracting locals and tourists alike.

The Standard had pictures of the Royal Penguins and relayed the vital information that they were being looked after at the Smugglers’ Den Sanctuary on one of the main roads by the seafront.

Reporter Helen Bell said: “Lots of people came to see the penguins over the weekend which was brilliant!

“One lady even offered to pay for their food! And many people rang to find out what the feeding times were.

“A reporter from Yorkshire TV also rang them after seeing the story in the Standard and asked if he could come over and film them… he was very embarrassed when they told him it was a joke.

“The Sun also did a version of the joke [Saturday p15] – apparently our contacts had got in touch with The Sun with the story we ran at the same time that they gave it to us – but The Sun said they didn’t want it because they made up their own – then they did one very similar!”

The penguin story came from a Sue Whitmore, who works at the Smugglers’ Den gift shop.

She had been wanting to do the prank for years.

The penguins are realistic-looking models made out of resin, which are on sale in the shop.

Sue took the photos with two friends at about 5.30am one very cold day, simply moving the penguins to various locations on the seafront.