Wigan dad's prank on neighbour goes viral after being caught on camera
and live on Freeview channel 276
Adrian Heaton, 40, and Gareth Jones, 39, have lived next to each other in Standish for just over a year and have become good friends.
They now regularly surprise each other with practical jokes – often egged on by their young daughters.
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Hide AdBut they did not expect millions of people around the world to see what Adrian did to surprise Gareth on Saturday March 26.
Adrian hid a confetti cannon outside Gareth’s house on Friday and it was discovered by his seven-year-old daughter.
They decided to let it off in the garden and Gareth cleaned up the debris on Saturday morning, while feeling worse for wear after having a few drinks the night before.
But, thanks to his neighbour and another confetti cannon, his lawn did not stay tidy for long.
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Hide AdGareth, a funeral director, said: “He had seen me cleaning the entire garden and it took about 35 minutes. I got the last bit off the garden and he launched another one.”
Adrian had been in bed but decided to surprise Gareth with the cannon after his partner spotted him cleaning up.
He said: “We bought them for my daughter’s birthday a few months before and let a few off in the house as party tricks. They’re quite difficult to clean up.
"He was furious at first, but by the time he got to his house, he saw the funny side and was laughing.”
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Hide AdAdrian’s partner had filmed the prank and they decided to put the video on TikTok, where it was watched by millions of people in less than 48 hours.
Adrian, who is the director of a construction company, said: “When I put the video together and posted it, I didn’t think it would get the reaction it has. When it got to 20,000 viewers I thought it might get to 50,000 then. The next morning I woke up and it was close to two million. It was a bit of a surprise.”
It was the first time one of their pranks had been filmed, but not the first time they had played tricks on each other.
Gareth previously let off a confetti cannon in Adrian’s house after seeing him spend 40 minutes clearing up the debris from other cannons. He also throws mini-missiles at Adrian’s windows at 3.30am to wake him up.
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Hide AdAdrian said the pair regular jump over each others’ fences too to scare each other.
Gareth is now planning how to get back at Adrian for the prank and already has some ideas.
But Adrian is also thinking about his next trick to surprise Gareth.
Adrian said: “He’s already thinking about revenge so I have to think about my revenge for his revenge.”
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Hide AdGareth said: “We have lived next door to each other for 14 months and have become good friends, so we have been doing things like this ever since.
"I feel sorry for the neighbours because it’s quite a regular thing."