I HAVE to admit April Fools’ Day pranks really bother me – because they question the sanity of everything we write.

Take for instance the idea I came up with two weeks ago when our sister paper the Bucks Free Press was published on April 1.

I ran a competition for readers to spot the fake story in the paper.

The bogus article in question was how Wycombe Wanderers were going to give our football reporter Andy Carswell a trial after he had impressed them in a training session.

The clue was in the prizes – five pairs of tickets for a Wycombe match.

But, although I received loads of entries, very few got it right. Some suggested the fake story was the completely true one about a senior policeman’s attack on petrol stations for not cracking down on crime.

One reader said it was the one about the Royal Grammar School closing to take 1,500 people to Twickenham for a rugger match.

Another reckoned the prank was the article about a pop group, which had played with Justin Bieber, being left baffled after only eight kids and a teacher turned up for a gig in Bourne End.

And there were other incorrect answers about similarly perfectly true stories.

I do have sympathy here because, on April 1, I scanned through all the national papers and tried looking for gags. Almost every story in them, especially the red top tabloids, appeared to be a spoof, but actually weren’t – and I gave up.

But it made me question everything in the world, because much of the true-life stuff we print is barmy and you have to constantly pinch yourself.

The best example I can give of this is the story in last week’s Bucks Free Press about the May 5 district council elections in Wycombe. For weeks, I have read statements from members of the public – normally on the stadium issue – on how important these elections were and how the public could make their views known through them.

And yet, last week it was revealed that six of the 60 seats (ten per cent) on the council have already been effectively won by the ruling Conservatives because no one is standing against their candidates.

There’s a variety of reasons for this and it’s probably unfair to blame the opposition too heavily because there is a dearth of candidates in some areas.

But the real sick laugh here is that people all over the world are dying to try to bring democracy to their countries. No doubt they are anxious to be able to vote for genuine alternative candidates in their nations.

However, in the ‘mother of democracies’, this right is currently denied at district council level to the residents of Greater Hughenden, Icknield and Bledlow/Bradenham.

My conclusion is that people in this country enjoy sniping from the sidelines, but can’t be bothered to rise to the challenge of doing something positive to change the situation.

So next time you want to criticise your councillors, please first ask yourself if you could do better.

And if that answer is yes, then why don’t you stand at the next election, or actively back someone else you prefer to stand?

Otherwise we might all look at your complaints and cry back: “April Fool!”