GRANDFATHER Ken Sheppard couldn t believe his eyes when he drove back from a Christmas visit to Cornwall to find a pile of manure on his doorstep. It was topped with tinsel and had a cardboard message reading: Merry Christmas love Rudolph . Ken, aged 78,

GRANDFATHER Ken Sheppard couldn't believe his eyes when he drove back from a Christmas visit to Cornwall to find a pile of manure on his doorstep. It was topped with tinsel and had a cardboard message reading: "Merry Christmas love Rudolph".

Ken, aged 78, of Harpenden Road, St Albans, said: "I guessed then that my son Peter was behind this. He and his wife Cora asked us what we wanted for Christmas and I said 'Nothing unless you can eat it, drink it or burn it.'"

Peter, aged 48, of Hollybush Lane, Flamstead took his father at his word and provided keen gardener Ken with some top-quality "compost".

Unfortunately, Ken's side gate was broken so this meant he had to shovel the manure into a wheelbarrow and take it through the house to his back garden.

Ken's wife Joan managed to see the funny side of it. She said: "Peter has always been a bit of a practical joker.