THE UK’s funniest prankster, Simon Brodkin, has been arrested several times for various offences through his hoaxes, which he performs under his various alter egos.

His latest trick was to sail out to the £100m yacht called Lionheart, owned by Phil Green, former owner of the collapsed BHS stores, while it was moored in Monaco, and rename it BHS Destroyer by unfurling a banner across the original name.

Other hoaxes include blagging his way on to the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury Festival when Kanye West was performing. Simon was in his chav character called Lee Nelson, who he will be bringing to Swindon this month.

“I talked the talk and walked the walk carrying a £7.99 kids’ toy microphone, and then ran on stage. Kanye did not see the funny side. If it had been Oasis they would have sung a song with me, but I think he thought I was Eminem, so the security guards carried me off,” said Simon, who was incensed by Kanye’s interruption of Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV awards.

The irony about his Glastonbury hoax was that Simon was due on stage himself, 45 minutes after the prank, and by the time he made it across the field he had lost his artist’s lanyard.

“The security guards wouldn’t let me in,” he said.

Simon and his pranks were featured in Channel 4’s Britain’s Greatest Hoaxer earlier this year and this month he will be back as his chavvy alter ego, at the Wyvern Theatre on Friday, September 22 at 7.30pm, as part of his Serious Joker Tour.

When Donald Trump visited Scotland to open the Trump Turnberry golf course, Simon, again posing as Lee, blagged his way into the press call. He interrupted the speech and handed out golf balls covered with swastikas saying they were the new Trump range. He was arrested on the spot.

Simon said: “Trump is not known for his sense of humour, so it came to a battle for custody whether I was taken by the CIA or the Scottish police. Luckily for me the Scotts won and after a few hours in a police van, handcuffed and drinking Lucozade the officers persuaded the secret service to stand down. It was on the understanding that I was put on a flight out of the country. I think they thought Scotland was rather like the Mexican border.”

The comedian has appeared on various TV shows including BBC1’s Absolutely Fabulous, Channel 4’s The Morning After Show, Al Murray’s Multiple Personality Disorder, and he was commissioned to write his own show for BBC 3 called Lee Nelson’s Well Good Show. “That was great fun, working with Omelette, my best mate from Swindon,” he said.

The character of Lee was again resurrected to appear in Let’s Dance for Comic Relief, on BBC One in 2011. He returned the following year on the judging panel with Russell Kane and Jo Brand, and in 2013 he was back performing street dance with the duo Twist and Pulse, when he won the judges vote and got to perform in the final.

Other non-political japes have also landed him in trouble, including running on the pitch at Goodison Park pretending to warm-up with Manchester City team, ahead of their Premier League match with Everton. This time he was his character Jason Brent, a footballer with a Merseyside accent. He was arrested and charged with pitch encroachment but the judge agreed to a six-month conditional caution for the incident.

In 2014 he again dressed as Jason, this time in a sharp suit, and attempted to mix with the England World Cup squad at Luton Airport before he was removed by the police.

Tickets to see Simon in action as Lee Nelson are £23.50 and available from 01793 524481 or visit swindontheatres.co.uk.