This story about an urban gym being created for portly squirrels at The University of Nottingham has been unveiled as an April Fool. The University published the story on their website and social media feeds shortly after midnight on 1 April 2016.

Shortly afterwards #FatSquirrels was trending in Nottingham with social media users enjoying the images of the tubby rodents. Some even took to Twitter to share their own pictures – one eating a Bakewell Tart.

But of course, in April Fool tradition, by midday it was time to come clean. Taking inspiration from the Active Trail which was launched in September 2015 the university claimed they were going to create a miniature version of the urban gym for squirrels after noticing their expanding waistlines.

Dr Gabriele Neher, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Arts, photographs the rich wildlife at University Park Campus for her blog The Beasts of UoN. She said: “All images used in the release were genuine, not photoshopped, and as you can see on the blog there are lots that look a little on the large side. The idea of them having to have a gym installed is hilarious but stranger things have happened. Perhaps the idea of them in lycra working out to up beat tunes was just too much for some people!” April Fools' Day (sometimes called All Fools' Day) is celebrated every year on 1 April by playing practical jokes and spreading hoaxes. Over the years elaborate practical jokes have appeared on radio and TV stations, newspapers, web sites,. In one famous prank from 1957, the BBC broadcast a film in their Panorama current affairs series purporting to show Swiss farmers picking freshly-grown spaghetti, in what they called the Swiss Spaghetti Harvest. The BBC were later flooded with requests to purchase a spaghetti plant, forcing them to declare the film a hoax on the news the next day.

Liz Webster, Head of Media Relations at the University, said: “We hope people saw the funny side of our April Fool and even if they didn’t believe it we think it will have raised a smile. Thanks to everyone who played along and especially Dan Tilley and Dr Gaby Neher for being such good sports.”

Read the original press release: http://goo.gl/KfSL5G

Watch the April Fool reveal video: https://mediaspace.nottingham.ac.uk/media/You+canNut+be+serious+-+April+Fool%21/1_vb6djdis