A Mancunian has explained why he has been scaring scores of Scousers - by dressing up as a "tree" to jump out at people heading towards Formby Beach.
Solomon Folorusho - whose YouTube persona is Alvin Hub - staged the 'bushman' prank at the entrance to the popular Merseyside resort.
Now, he's revealed why he did the prank - and it's to help him cope with tragedy, the Liverpool Echo reports.
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Footage captured him dressed from head to toe in fake leaves and stood next to a tree - before jumping out at unsuspecting beach-goers walking past.
People of all ages were startled by the "bushman" as they walked to and from the beach, most of whom who took it in their stride.
The video has been viewed almost 80,000 times, with thousands of likes.
Solomon, 27, from Manchester, has videos of the same prank in various locations on his YouTube channel.
He says the videos are aimed at "spreading some joy" and are a way of helping him cope after the loss of his son, just over a month ago.
"Losing my son broke me, but how I have been able to smile is by making my family laugh. My intentions being to help them recover from the bereavement," Solomon said.
"After the pandemic I saw how staying at home has changed a lot of people, so I decided to find a way to bring people together and make them smile.
"People lost love ones, people have had a really tough time, and I wanted to try to spread some joy more publicly."
Part of the description for his Formby prank video echoes this, reading: "I have never had such a wonderful moment filming pranks, this has been the best so far and it a was privilege to meet some awesome people with the best sense of humour.
"The intention [of the videos] is to remind everyone that they're perfect when they smile."
