The Mansfield Chad has claimed a tenuous link with the US presidential election farce – reminding readers how the chaos has been caused by their weekly family favourite.

As keen followers of the saga will be aware, the punched-out circles of paper from the voting forms in America are known as chads.

But why is the six-edition weekly known as The Chad?

The Chad was born in April 1952, when the Advertiser and the Chronicle merged to form the Mansfield and North Nottinghamshire Chronicle Advertiser.

It quickly became known as “Chad” – taking the CH from the Chronicle and the AD from Advertiser.

The paper told its readers this week: “You might have guessed it.

“The delay in determining whether Al Gore or George W Bush takes over at the helm of the White House was caused by none other than your family favourite – the Chad.

“Voters in the key US state of Florida were supposed to use a pointed instrument to push out tiny rectangles next to the name of the candidate they wanted to vote for – a straightforward enough task in theory.

“But if the perforated rectangle failed to become fully detached from the card, and clung on by a corner, it became known as… wait for it, a chad!”