THE national press were working themselves up into a lather at the weekend over a group of self-styled surf warriors dedicated to clearing the north Cornwall coast of wannabe surfers.

The story started following the daubing of "locals only" on the Portreath harbour wall back in the summer. Last week, stories started emerging in the local press and radio about a shadowy organisation dedicated to getting wannabe surfers out of the water with a campaign of intimidation.

But this week the group seemed to have got cold feet about all the attention they have been receiving and have claimed their campaign was all a big joke and that they were amazed at the gullibility of the press.

In a disclaimer at the entrance to the group's website they state: "We did not for one second think that anyone with half a brain would take this seriously. This website was researched thoroughly by all the press before they went ahead with their stories and they should be ashamed to call themselves journalists after reading the content.

(For more on this story see this week's Camborne Packet)