Sports fan Roland Harris 36 was complimented on his adventurous sense of humour this week after a TV commentator noticed him wearing a bright curly wig in the middle of the crowd.

Harris, 36 and from Bath, bought the luminous yellow wig at a joke shop last week after searching for an item that would reflect his unique personality and unconventional sense of humour, and was reported to be absolutely delighted with the chuckles that greeted the vision of this madcap spectator breaking all conventions at the Lord’s Test between England and South Africa.

‘You see, men’s hair is usually quite short and either black or brown or blonde…‘ explained Mr Harris. ‘So wearing a wig made out of long, bright yellow hair is just plain daft! My friends can’t believe I’m bonkers enough to wear it out in public! But tat’s just the way I am!’

Mr Harris came to national attention when a TV cameraman picked him out of the crowd, and the commentator said that the wearer of the wig clearly must be ‘a bit of a character’. Mr Harris went on to reveal that when live pictures of him wearing the wig were beamed around the world, several of his friends were incredulous. ‘They texted me saying “ive jst seen u on tv. ur mental!!!!” and “u nutta! u shld b locked up!!!!!!”, but I don’t care. It’s different, and it makes me look daring and interesting’. Nevertheless, some have criticised his decision for wearing such an elaborate headpiece: ‘I don’t think that kind of ridiculous hair should be allowed in public places’, said London mayor Boris Johnson.

The decision of the Lord Chief Justice to abandon traditional judge’s wigs dating back 300 years is facing opposition from within the legal profession, it has been revealed. ‘First of all, we are very upset that the Lord Chief Justice told everyone it was a wig,’ said one judge. ‘If we felt self-conscious about losing our hair and chose to go into a profession in which wigs came with the job, we don’t necessarily want the boss letting everyone in on the trade secret!’

But many other lawyers are sad about the proposed break with the past and feel that the reforms are an opportunity to remember periods other than the 1700s, and so have taken to wearing headgear from other periods of England’s colourful history.

‘I sent a burglar to prison this morning wearing a horned Viking helmet’ said Judge Charles Farquahson ‘It felt really great, like I was Kirk Douglas or something. Yesterday, I presided over a complex fraud case with my hair spiked up and dyed red in the manner of the punk rock craze of the mid-1970s.’

Other judges have been appearing in court wearing Puritan hats from the late Tudor period or the cumbersome metal helmet complete with visor from a medieval suit of armour. At the Old Bailey yesterday, the courtroom all rose for the judge, only to see him enter wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap on the wrong way round.

However the Lord Chancellor has ruled against traditional horsehair wigs being replaced by the modern toupees associated with the likes of Terry Wogan or Paul Daniels. ‘No that’s getting too ridiculous’ he said ‘We don’t want the judges being laughed out of court.’