THE cheeky joker behind a spoof Facebook message in which he claimed he was duped into re-housing a three-legged goat says he did it to "wind up" gullible internet surfers.

Comedian Chris Washington posted a message in the Hindley Buy, Sell, Swap or Give Away page pleading for help saying he had been fooled into re-housing a three-legged Jack Russell — which ended up being a goat.

Mr Washington went on to explain that the person he bought it from, "Joy Kinlong" — an anagram of "only joking" — had since blocked him and deleted her profile.

The same post appeared on the Bolton Buy and Sell Facebook page after a fan of Mr Washington's prank, Andy Lyon, re-posted it himself, saying he was unable to share it properly.

Mr Washington's joke was picked up by viral magazine UniLad and has since been liked more than 67,000 times, before appearing on a Bolton Facebook page and being shared by thousands more.

The Bolton News:

Mr Washington, from Leigh, said: "I'm always looking for ways to wind people up online. People get so irate about little things and it's really funny that some people are so gullible.

"The idea came after I saw a goat that I thought looked like a dog, so I typed out the message and attached a photo of a goat I'd found on Google which just so happened to have three legs.

"I can't believe it's been liked and shared so many times. I never expected it. It turns out another person has copied it too, so I'm having to share the credit.

"I'm really going to have to think of something extra special for the next post."

Mr Lyon, from Warrington, added: "I actually saw the post in a Hindley buy and sell site posted by Chris Washington, who is a local comedian.

"The original post didn't have an option to share so I just copied and pasted it to share with others.

"It's a shame that my post went viral and not the original. I didn't think for one second it would go viral, I just wanted to share something funny that I'd seen on Facebook."