APRIL Fools! Thousands of the unsuspecting have been caught out by the latest batch of tall tales this morning, including our "exclusive" report on a proposed "Cage of Shame".

Many people swallowed the prank and thought a see-through drunk tank in Melbourne's CBD was actually a great idea.

On our online poll, 57 per cent agreed louts should be “shamed into behaving”, while hundreds more offered their full support in our on-line comments, which generated close to a 1200 remarks, and was the top story on our webstie this morning.

Also centred on the city were the pranksters who replaced all the street signs along Queen St with realistic “Republic St” replacements.

The Australian Republican Movement said they had nothing to do with the prank but supported the idea.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle got the joke, and told Radio 3AW he thought the move was "very clever, very amusing".

Radio SEN had listeners worked up this morning when they reported that Carlton superstar Chris Judd would line up to run the Stawell Gift footrace this year.

Just after 7am this morning on the Tim Watson and Andrew Maher and they said there would be a “massive betting plunge” when the betting opened for the $40,000 Easter event.

One of the organizers of the Stawell Gift told the station they were going announce it later in the afternoon, noting Judd had been a schoolboy champ.

And the Geelong Advertiser had many punters taking the bait when it reported it had “conclusive proof” of the existence of the mysterious Otways big cat.

Unsuspecting readers were given the chance to look at "crystal clear" video of the elusive animal.



ABC radio in Sydney had listeners convinced that we were on the way to World Cup glory after recruiting David Beckham to the side as assistant manager.



“I'm really thrilled to be part of this group, I just can't wait to meet up with the lads and get the campaign underway,'' an impersonator told ABC radio of his decision to join the team for the 2010 World Cup.



He went on to quote Shakespeare in the interview and, in an aside, asked ”Posh'' where his knickers were.



The move was reportedly sealed after Football Federation Australia (FFA) chairman Frank Lowy sent Becks a basket of fruit and a get-well card following his achilles injury last month.



It was an April Fool's Day wind-up, with David Beckham voiced on the ABC by an impersonator.



But plenty of Aussies were taken in by the gag.



“I've never taken much interest in him or his missus but he sounds great,'' one ABC listener said.



Another told the station she got really excited before realising it was a joke.

Among other April Fools gangs included the ZDNet.com.au report about Google leaving Australia and the report that the Avatar sequel would be filmed in Murwillumbah.



In other pranks, BMW tried to convince newspaper readers it had secured the rights to a new GPS navigation system that would lead motorists into a secret underground labyrinth of tunnels.



Pen maker Artline also ran print ads says it had invented a new pen that records everything written with it on a digital memory stick.

The Herald Sun's “cage of shame” reports suggested it could be rolled out by Christmas this year if approved.

The fish-tank style box - made from Perspex - would be set up at one of four CBD locations.

It would be used on Friday and Saturday nights to house disorderly drunks picked up throughout the night.

Barriers would be erected around the boxes and tiered seating installed for passers-by to take a long look at those inside.

About 75 per cent of our readers realised the gag, but many voted in favour of the plan anyway in our online poll.

Originally published as 'Shame cage' an April Fools gag