Staff at a regional daily took the phrase “hold the press” quite literally when they froze en masse to take part in the mannequin challenge.

The Dundee Courier filmed its staff being involved in the craze, which sees people stay still like a mannequin and put a video of themselves online.

In the case of The Courier, the challenge was undertaken in its press hall, prompted by a shout of “hold the press” by editor Richard Neville.

A number of members of staff are shown in the video, with many holding copies of the newspaper.

Dave Lord, assistant editor of The Courier, said: “The Mannequin Challenge has been everywhere of late and – being a paper that likes to keep up – it wasn’t something we could ignore.

“The iconic shout of ‘hold the press’ lent itself to the scenario perfectly, and while plenty of news rooms have risen to the mannequin challenge we hadn’t actually seen any in a press hall. It was too good an opportunity to miss.”

The challenge is thought to have been dreamt up last month by a group of students in Jacksonville, Florida, USA, and has since become an internet sensation.

A number of famous people and sports teams have since attempted the challenge.

Last Tuesday, the England football team used the craze as the basis for a goal celebration after Leicester City forward Jamie Vardy scored against Spain.