Fool's Gold: Readers Left Guessing as Media Cashes in on April 1

With the history of practical jokes on April 1 stretching back as far as the 14^th century, the tradition of trying to fool others is one that has well and truly stood the test of time.

Anyone for Pasta?

Among the most famous April Fool's Day pranks played by the media was in 1957, when the BBC broadcast a report from their Panorama current affairs programme looking into Switzerland's annual spaghetti harvest, where farmers were picking freshly-grown spaghetti from plants.

The prank worked a treat with the BBC receiving countless calls of interest from people looking to purchase the spaghetti plants.

The BBC were at it again in 1980 when they reported that Big Ben, one of London's most iconic attractions was going to scrap its famous clock face for a digital makeover, in order to keep up with the times.

The Beeb's Japanese service joined in and said that the clock hands would be given away to the first four callers, which sparked a flurry of calls into the station.

Elsewhere, back in 1962, Swedish broadcasters had women all over the country cutting up their stockings after reporting that covering television screens with tights would cause the light to bend in such a way that would allow black and white televisions to be viewed in colour.

2015: No Breakfast for Brits, No Noise in Paris

As expected, the media has today been littered with articles of very questionable credibility as newspapers, magazines and websites try and catch out their readers.

Among the Fool's headlines is a story that is sure make Brits spit out their morning tea, with The Local in Spain reporting that authorities in Benidorm — a popular holiday destination for Britons — were introducing measures to ban the full English breakfast from the menus of local restaurants in favour of local Spanish cuisine.

In Paris, it has been reported that a number of local restaurants have signed up to a campaign aimed at cracking down on loud-mouth tourists, which they say ruin the sophistication of Parisian cafes.

Elsewhere, in Switzerland, readers were hit with the 'news' that the country's army was resurrecting its bicycle infantry, saying that cycling up and down the Swiss alps would improve the fitness of recruits.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, hot-head, rev-head car lover Jeremy Clarkson is a changed man, according to The Guardian, who reported he had joined a global push, calling for a reduction in fossil fuel use, saying his recent sacking from the BBC had been a "wake-up call."

And even London football club Arsenal joined the fray, claiming to have released the world's first ever 'left-footed football' which is sure to be on the Christmas list for many young gunners fans.

April Fails Day: Some Hit and Miss Pranks

Although many of these jokes have gone down well with readers, and perhaps even fooled a few in the process, it seems not all pranks have been quite as successful.

If you're looking for love ahead of the summer, look no further than Tesco, with the supermarket fooling customers by unveiling its new dating app that matches people with their perfect date, according to your basket items.

And while you're at the shops, you might as well pick up something to eat, with food company Ginsters launching their very own 'Essex edition' of a chicken and chardonnay pasty with edible jazzles.

Meanwhile, if you fancy a drink to relax after a hard day's work, there is no need to head off to the shops, because Carlsberg took to Twitter to announce they had set up a Carlsberg drone that could deliver beer to your door within half an hour.

And while the tradition of coming clean on jokes by the midday deadline has passed, at least we will have another year to recover, until more red herrings are reported again.