Robbie Williams fans fall for April Fool's prank

Dubai: An April Fool's Day hoax by a Dubai DJ panicked Robbie Williams fans on Saturday in the run-up to the star's concert in Dubai.

At 6am on his morning show on Saturday Chris Fisher of Dubai 92 announced Dubai's hotly-awaited Robbie Williams concert was cancelled.

By 9.50, when the DJ revealed the news was a prank, the report had spread by text message across Dubai and even reached Robbie Williams in the United Kingdom.

Tickets for the April 21 Robbie Williams gig at Nad Al Sheba sold out within hours of going on sale three weeks ago.

Agitated ticket-holders who called the phoney number given out by Chris Fisher, left unprintable comments when the answering message revealed the cancellation was a joke.

"I normally think that April Fool's jokes are a waste of time but this was an opportunity not to miss," said Fisher. "There were a couple of people who took it badly but no one took it really, really badly."

Bloggers in the UAE also fell for an April Fool's Day hoax that reported a three-headed camel in Ras Al Khaimah, with the report purporting to come from a news agency.

The report said the camel's owner was charging Dh5 per head for witnessing the freak dromedary. While some were thrilled to see the camel, another felt the animal did not live up to his expectations.