PEOPLE in need of a good laugh will be hotfooting it to Bury after it was revealed as the home of the world's funniest ever joke.

A 31-year-old psychiatrist from the town had entered the joke in the largest ever survey of humour ever undertaken.

Gurpal Gossall's joke proved to be the most globally popular in the 12-month survey and scooped first prize in the laughter stakes. People had been invited to judge jokes on an internet site as well as contributing their own favourites.

Dr Richard Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire, organised the Laughlab experiment which attracted more than 40,000 jokes and almost two million ratings. The experiment revealed wide humour differences between nations with people from the Republic of Ireland, the UK, Australia and New Zealand most enjoying jokes involving word plays.

Dr Wiseman said: "Many of the jokes submitted received higher ratings from certain groups of people, but this one had real universal appeal."

"Humour is vital to communication and the more we understand about how people's culture and background affect their sense of humour, the more we will be able to communicate effectively."

And here is that joke . . .

TWO hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses.

He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services.

He gasps: "My friend is dead! What can I do?"

The operator says: "Calm down, I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead."

There is a short silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says: "Ok, now what?"

Do you know a a funnier joke? Keep them short and clean. E-mail the news desk on bennewsdesk@boltoneveningnews.co.uk