THE term ‘dad jokes’ has been taken to the next level by a Covingham man during lockdown.

Jason McCarthy has been eliciting groans from his family for years but that hasn't put him off trying to bring a smile to the faces of passers-by while they are out exercising.

The 51-year-old, a health and safety manager for Cross Manufacturing, is writing his best gags on a board and displaying then in front of his house for all to see.

He said: “I’ve been bugging my family for years with my jokes on our WhatsApp group and Facebook

“I just did it one day, a joke on a bit of board out the front of the garden just as a bit of fun, just to see if it would get a smile and it’s grown from there.”

The response appears to have been positive.

He said: “Where we live, on Dragonfly Road in Covingham, there’s quite a bit of footfall with people walking past doing their daily exercise and you can see people smile and comment.

“I’ve been carrying on with it, we’ve got a few boards out there now and I do three or four jokes a day and it’s getting a good reaction.

“If it just makes anybody smile then I think, at the moment, it’s what’s needed.”

The jokes have even made it to Australia and are being shared by other people.

“It’s gone down well, the local postman comments on them,” Jason added. “He’s written a note on a letter and poked it through the door telling me to keep it up.

“I’ve had a lady who said she’s photographs them every day and sends them to her son in Sydney and I was talking to a lady the other day who said she takes photos and sends them on the bottom of her emails.”

Jason has been putting up a few jokes a day and says he is trying his best to keep them fresh – and as clean as possible.

He told the Adver: “People are starting to send me jokes now, so I use some of them.

“I dig up some of the old favourites and then it’s just really looking around and trying to find jokes on Google or other joke pages and I keep trying to refresh them.

“I’m trying to do kids' jokes as well because a lot of families are out on their walk.”

For those not living in Covingham, Jason was keen to share a few of his greatest hits via the Adver.

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