Memories of a hoax which fooled Leeds and the world

It was the hoax which fooled a city and the media. Leeds University third year fine art degree students are pictured on the beach on Yorkshire's east coast. The art students claimed they had blown a £1,000 grant meant to fund a degree exhibition on a week of fun in the sun in Spain. They eventually came clean and revealed it all a hoax and they had actually gone to Scarborough. " It was fake news before fake news became a thing," recalled Sarah Thornton one of the students involved. "It had all the ingredients of a big story - art students wasting money. We managed to fool the world. It even made the second story on CNN in America." This was Leeds in May 1998, a month which featured The Wellesley Hotel on Wellington Street put up for sale and highlighted why employer Ventura was ace in Leeds. Enjoy these photo memories, plucked from the YEP archive, charting 30 days in the life of your city. READ MORE: Memories of a misspelt sign which drove Leeds motorists to distraction LOVE LEEDS? LOVE NOSTALGIA? Join Leeds Retro on facebook YEP RETRO NEWSLETTER: Sign up for our free monthly email digest of Leeds nostalgia