VISITORS to Liphook were in for a shock on Easter Monday, when the more familiar and friendly village greeting sign was replaced with a warning that once they entered they "would never leave".
The sign was a reference to the fictional village of Royston Vasey - from the BBC2 comedy show, The League of Gentlemen - where outsiders are treated with the utmost suspicion by local people.
Prominent characters on the popular programme include a transvestite taxi driver, a vindictive woman priest and a mayor who can't stop swearing.
The alternative signposting was spotted by eagle-eyed Herald reader Stephen Carter, from Longmoor Road, Liphook, on April 1.
Mr Carter (42), a contract cleaner and charity worker, who has lived in Liphook all his life, first thought that the sign had been put up for a different reason.
"I know the developers have been trying to take over Liphook for years," he said.
"On Easter Monday afternoon when I arrived back home from a holiday in Folkestone I thought it had finally happened."
However, when he discovered what the sign really meant, Mr Carter saw the funny side. "I've heard of the programme but I've never seen it," he said. "But I knew the sign was a wind up because it wasn't there the next day when I went to work."
Haslemere fell victim to a similar prank several years ago, when it was renamed Trumpton for All Fools Day.
"I remember that happening, it was hilarious," said Mr Carter, "Calling Haslemere 'Trumpton', that I can understand!"