A comic-inspired front page greeted a weekly newspaper’s readers this morning after a fun-loving dad dressed as a superhero became the talk of its patch.

When a man in a Spider-Man costume was spotted out and about across South London, the Croydon Advertiser tried to track down the would-be web-slinger.

The hero, dubbed ‘The Amazing Spider-Dad’ had been a web hit for the Advertiser earlier this week after readers sent in photos of him in full costume at various locations.

Chief reporter Gareth Davies saw Spider-Dad out while out shopping, and interviewed him after he was unmasked as 40-year-old photographer Christopher Lee.

Mr Lee had originally bought the Spider-Man suit as a birthday surprise for his son Christopher Jr last year, but now wears it in public several times a week – when taking his children shopping, swimming and even to church.

The Advertiser decided to splash on the story after readers had taken to its website to praise Mr Lee’s inspirational parenting.

The front page, pictured above, was created by designer Alex Leys, based on the Marvel comic strips in which Spider-Man appears.

Editor Andy Worden said: “Every editor in the country will regularly have been asked the question ‘don’t you ever cover any good news?’

“Of course, every paper covers plenty of it. But it is nice when you get a good news story that is as much fun as this one.

“Once we had the story we wanted to do something a little different with the front page that recreated the look of a comic book.

“It is a bit of a gamble splashing such a story but we hope it will pay off.

“The story, perhaps unsurprisingly as it is about a man dressed as Spider-Man, has already done very well on the web.”