Liverpool is the best city in the world and the setting for many weird, bizarre and funny stories.
Scousers are known for their humour and we've published our fair share of funny tales that have raised a smile in the ECHO newsroom and with our readers. Some of the stories are also just downright bizarre. From wrapping cling film on cars, 'Elton John' on Walton Breck Road and a mystery 'dead crocodile', there've been a fair few strange happenings.
We decided to round up some of the funniest, most random and weirdest things to ever happen in our great city over the years. This is only a selection. Sadly we couldn't include them all.
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If your favourite is missing let us know in the comments section below.
'Elton John' spotted at a petrol station near Anfield
Back in June this year people were shocked to see 'Elton John' outside a petrol station in Anfield.
The Rocket Man was playing a gig at Liverpool FC's stadium on June 17 and fans thought they spotted the singer outside the Morrisons petrol garage, just off Walton Breck Road. Wearing a red suit with 'Rocket Man' in gold lettering on it, red shoes and a British flag necklace, the doppelgänger was walking between two "security guards".
Sadly it wasn't the superstar and owner of Hussel Marketing Lewis Ellis revealed it was a "disruptive marketing advert".
On Twitter, Lewis said: "We made a disruptive marketing advert for @primark in #Liverpool using a faux @eltonofficial for less than $1000 ... here's how it came out ... I'll share BTS soon ... sorry everyone that asked for a selfie! #EltonFarewellTour #EltonJohn #LiverpoolFC."
The campaign creator included a video in his tweet showing "Elton" looking for his glasses with his assistant suggesting he get some from Primark. It went on to show him stepping out of a black Bentley and walking through Liverpool City Centre as he approached the shop, surrounded by a crowd.
The man who cling filmed an entire car as revenge for airport parking
Who could forget the man who wrapped a car in cling film after getting annoyed at people parking outside his house before jetting off on holiday?
Neil Junglas, 36, from Hunts Cross, decided to get his own back on the driver of a silver Skoda that was parked outside his house for an extended period in 2017. He said he was making dinner for his daughter when he saw the car pull up and a woman get out and then climb into a taxi.
A man then got out of the car with two suitcases of luggage and also got in to the taxi which drove off. Neil complained he could no longer park his own car outside of his house because of the Skoda.
Speaking to the ECHO at the time, he said: “I thought it was cheeky leaving the car there so thought I’d leave them a nice surprise for when they got back. I work at Costco so I went and bought a big roll of cling-film from there.”
Neil said he then wrapped the entire car using an industrial sized roll of cling-film. And the rest is history, with hundreds of ECHO readers backing Neil's vigilante actions.
Conor McGregor's Huyton house party
Who can forget Conor McGregor's four-day visit to Liverpool back in 2017 for the Grand National.
Conor was spotted all over the city partying away. But it was his attendance at a house party in Huyton that really got people talking. Rumours spread on the Monday night after the races that Conor McGregor was in a house party in Huyton after a number of pictures of the UFC star and his new mates were shared on social media.
He later went on to confirm his whereabouts after posting a picture on his Instagram along with the caption: "Liverpool we run your entire city."
A picture of McGregor on the bonnet of a Rolls Royce gained more than 377,000 likes on Instagram shortly after it was posted. Whether the two-weight UFC champion ended the night dancing in a zipped up blue jacket or a cowboy hat remains unconfirmed.
Mystery as huge dead 'crocodile' spotted in Merseyside
People in Liverpool were left baffled after a huge crocodile was reportedly found close to a hospital.
One woman, who spotted the reptile as she was leaving work back in November 2019, believed the animal was a branch and then a stuffed toy before realising that a dead, scaled creature was actually blocking her path. Pictures and video circulated on social media showed the animal, believed to be a type of croc, in the Lower Lane area of Fazakerley, close to the hospital and the Walton Centre.
Throughout the day the crocodile was again photographed in further locations around the area before being captured cut in half on the pavement. The mystery snap went viral as people questioned where the scaled creature had come from, was it real and how did it end up in North Liverpool.
After the ECHO published the story, a man stated that the crocodile was his and had been in his family for almost 20 years. The reptile's name was Duncan and he was, in fact, once a real live crocodile.
Not much is known about Duncan, when he was alive, but the animal had already been stuffed and turned into a taxidermy ornament by the time he was found in Burscough - in 2001.
The owner, who did not want to be named, said: "I found him in a skip in Burscough 18 years ago. I was only 12 and thought he was cool so I kept him. He was named Duncan, I don't know why, and he has been in my family for the last 18 years."
The owner said that Duncan was recovered from a friend's business, RH Autos on Longmoor Close, and was placed on a nearby roundabout as a joke.
Pete Price being called a lizard... a lot
The radio host can't shake off his nickname 'The Lizard''. What started off as a joke on his radio talk show soon became so popular that at one point it even trended worldwide on Twitter.
A flag was even held up by a member of the crowd at a packed out M&S Bank Arena wrestling show back in 2017 with the slogan "Pete Price is a lizard". Signs were subsequently spotted at the darts at the M&S Bank Arena for the Betway Premier League.
Pete's had to get used to the lizard shouts when he's out and about including at Ladies Day at Aintree. In 2017 he begged people to stop using the nickname but has now begrudgingly accepted it.
Years later, the joke is still going and Pete has even invested in a glitzy lizard brooch to style it out.
When a man stole a bench and then brought it back with a sign that said ‘tell the ECHO you’ve got your bench back’
A bench stolen from someone's garden was returned along with a handwritten note that read "Tell the ECHO you got it back".
CCTV captured in September 2019 in Tuebrook showed a man seemingly sizing up the piece of furniture before slowly carrying it down the street. In the footage the man can be seen bending down over the bench and appearing to brace himself to pick it up.
However he can then be seen sheepishly turning his head, appearing to have been spooked by something. But soon after, it appears the man has decided the time is right and he bends down and lifts the bench up.
The CCTV then ends with the hooded man almost waddling away down the driveway, as he struggles with the heavy bench. Peter Duncan - who owned the bench - was amazed at seeing the piece of furniture back in its place with the note after the ECHO ran a story about its bizarre disappearance.
He said: "I was shocked. I was in my overalls having my cup of tea and piece of toast and there it was. It's all good now. They must have brought it back overnight."
When a trampoline went flying down Islington during Storm Doris
Storm Doris caused havoc across Merseyside in 2017 - but the trampoline that flew across the road is what people remember best.
The video, taken in Islington, shows scenes of mid-morning traffic battling the windy conditions and was filmed from inside a car. As the car travels down the road, a massive trampoline comes into view - clearly blown out of a nearby garden by the 100mph winds.
The trampoline and its netting were carried across the road in front of all the vehicles as they stopped at a red light. And four days after the Storm passed the trampoline still remained unclaimed - was it yours?
The time the EDL got laughed out of Liverpool to the Benny Hill theme tune
In June 2017 the EDL were laughed out of the city - to the Benny Hill theme tune.
The comedy song rang out across Lime Street as the far right group was forced to cut short its bid to march through the city centre. Anti-fascist protesters sat down on the ground to stop the march – and after bringing the surrounding area to a standstill, the EDL group was forced to turn back and hold their demonstration in a loading bay at Lime Street station.
Nearly 200 officers, 25 riot vans, mounted police on horses and officers with dogs were on the scene to oversee demonstrations by the two groups. Tempers flared as protesters chanted “Nazi scum off our streets” and “Get out of Liverpool”.
The boy who ran into a lamppost saying hi to Mo Salah
A young Liverpool fan was so excited at spotting his idol Mo Salah that he knocked himself unconscious after running into a lamp-post while trying to keep up with his car back in August.
Eleven-year-old Louis Fowler and his 10-year-old brother Isaac were waiting outside Melwood training ground hoping to catch a glimpse of their heroes as they left.
When Salah's Bentley pulled out, Louis ran after the car in the hope of getting a wave. But in his excitement, he ran straight into a lamp-post and ended up unconscious on the ground.
Mo turned his car around and later visited the close where the boy's parents live to check the youngster was OK and to pose for pictures with the starstruck brothers. Louis was taken to Alder Hey childrens' hospital to be checked over following the incident but, apart from having to have his nose re-set, he was none the worse for the experience.
Frustrated residents put CD racks with lights on in the road
In August 2019 frustrated residents took the extraordinary step of putting a CD rack with glow-lights attached on their street to stop vehicles driving dangerously down it.
The makeshift road-block, on Palatine Road, Wallasey, wasbuilt by local people who said there had been a speeding problem for years and it had not been addressed by the council. Michelle Hooper, who lives on the road in question, said: “This problem has been constant for at least two years, all day and all night.
“The council rejected the idea of speed bumps and all the other suggestions we’ve made. Cars drive so fast down the road and there are lots of children around. The other night one came down so fast we couldn’t take his number plate.”
This build-up of frustration led to residents taking matters into their own hands.
Ms Hooper added: “Last night we put a CD rack with basic lights attached on the road and since then nobody has been speeding at all. So we’re going to put some more down across the street.”
The CD rack was then stolen with Ms Hooper suspecting local kids may have been behind the theft.
Mystery mist over Liverpool
In 2017 a mysterious mist descended over Liverpool, with people struggling to work out what had caused it. An area around the Liver Building was shrouded in a mist and traffic came to a standstill on the Strand.
And people on the other side of the Mersey in Wallasey also reported a thick mist descending. A social media storm followed, with lots of people struggling to understand what was happening.
It was eventually revealed to be a sea fog with which is caused by warm air condensing over the cold sea and creating a fog.
The massive sink hole that just kept getting bigger
In August 2017 a sink hole appeared on Edge Lane - a major route into the city.
The hole keep getting bigger and bigger, forcing the road to close for six weeks in total - with United Utilities calling it one of the “biggest ever emergency repair jobs”. Workers battled to fix a damaged sewer pipe 15 metres below the ground, with a hole three metres deep and six metres wide opening up at the Beech Street junction.
When the road finally reopened in August 2017 Mike Wood from United Utilities said: “We’re extremely grateful to the public for their patience while we’ve carried out this incredibly challenging repair to our sewer network.
“It wasn’t simply the case of filling in a hole. This has been one of the biggest emergency repair work jobs we have ever undertaken and involved us replacing 15 metres of damaged sewer pipe."
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