AN audacious bid for beleaguered Newcastle United has turned out to be a hoax by a Sunderland fan.

A press release and photographs were emailed out on Thursday evening, reputedly from a public relations agency, claiming that a selfmade entrepreneur was putting together a consortium to buy the club for £150m.

The release claimed multimillionaire Rick Parkinson, from Northumberland, would immediately appoint Alan Shearer as manager.

“Mr Parkinson” was shown in photographs parading his Newcastle colours in front of the Tyne Bridge.

The Northern Echo felt Mr Parkinson was a little too good to be true to rush into print with the story, but yesterday morning the news of the mystery bidder appeared on radio stations in the North-East, national and international newspaper websites, the TalkSport radio station and Sky Sports News.

Even last night, it was still being reported as fact on television.

But by then, the Echo had received a tip-off from an anonymous caller who recognised that the pictures on the TV of “the lifelong Magpies fan Rick Parkinson” in fact showed Richard Parker, the Sunderland-supporting former landlord at the North Briton pub in Aycliffe Village.

A quick check on the Echo’s photo archive revealed an uncanny resemblance between Mr Parkinson and Mr Parker, who in 2006 had a runin with Sedgefield Council over whether he could paint a St George’s Cross on his pub wall.

Last night, Mr Parker, 38, and running a club in Sunderland, confessed that he was the front man for the hoax that had gained worldwide attention and had started the Newcastle messageboards buzzing.

He said he was getting his own back for years of territorial torment from Geordies.

Mr Parker said: “Let’s face it, we haven’t had a great deal to shout about in the last 16 years or so. But this summer has, without doubt, made up for all those years of hurt.

“We took four points off Newcastle last season, as well as four points off Middlesbrough, and they both went down, leaving us as the North-East top dogs for the first time in a long time.

“Newcastle’s plight, as difficult as it is for their fans, is music to our ears.”

It was claimed Mr Parkinson, originally from Ponteland, had made millions from the textiles industry, as well as from a number of offshore investments in the early 2000s. He was said to be worth more than £250m.

Mr Parker added: “We’re only doing what they would have done, and have done for a good few years.

“There’s always a lot of banter between the two sets of fans, and I have a lot of good friends who are Newcastle supporters. It’s all friendly banter, and I’m sure the majority of Magpie fans will see the funny side.”