Bruno’s hotpants scare Kansas locals

Sacha Baron Cohen is being a menace again. Following his controversial 2006 hit Borat, comes his latest 'mockumentary', Bruno, in which he masquerades as a gay Austrian TV fashion presenter. Footage has emerged of the British comedian terrorising Kansas locals by stripping down to a pair of hotpants in Wichita airport. Local newspapers reported that a "European man" was "putting security on red alert" by "stripping down to tight shorts and dancing in the lobby”.

'Bruno' has already fooled actor Ben Affleck, who agreed to take part in an interview with someone that he was told was a "very famous, openly gay, fashion journalist". The prank was revealed when Affleck told comedian Sarah Silverman that the interview was "the weirdest sit-down he has ever had with a reporter". Silverman shrewdly asked: "Was this guy's name Bruno?"

Until now, the filming of Bruno has been kept under close wraps, with the success of the project resting on the requirement that Baron Cohen's victims should not recognise him. The leaked clip is thought to be genuine and not an April Fool’s joke.

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was a hit but attracted several law suits from 'victims' duped by the Kazakh journalist. In January, a US court threw out a lawsuit against Baron Cohen from an Alabama etiquette tutor, Kathie Martin, who claimed she had been humiliated after being tricked into teaching the bigoted Borat some American manners.