'World's biggest liar' crowned with a fishy tale

LONDON: The "world's biggest liar" has been crowned, after telling a tale about a German World War II submarine invading Britain to capture digital television decoders.   

John "Johnny Liar" Graham won the annual competition of tall tales, which is held at the Bridge Inn in Santon Bridge, in the heart of Britain's Lake District national park.   

The 69-year-old claimed he stumbled across the U-boat as it prepared a raid on the nearby town of Whitehaven, which has become the first in Britain to switch from analogue to digital television.   

Graham, who has won the title five times before, also said he caught a cod that was nine-foot (2.7-metres) long.   

"It was a true story," Graham insisted to BBC radio on Friday.   

The event, which now draws tourists and competitors from around the world, is a homage to a local pub owner called Will Ritson, who regaled his regulars with shaggy dog stories in the 19th century.   

Among his claims were that turnips grown in the region were so big people could live in them.    Recent winners have included one competitor who claimed the mountainous Lake District was formed not by ice or volcanic action but by large moles and eels.

Another claimed to have discovered the existence of mermaid farms.   

Competitors have five minutes to tell the biggest fib without the aid of props. Politicians and lawyers are barred from entering as they are judged to be too skilled at telling porkies.