From the BBC:

A restaurant owner who was fined … after an insect was discovered in a meal has denied buying up every local newspaper reporting the case.

The story about live cockroaches being found in food served by the Sea Palace in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, was splashed all over local papers.

But, mysteriously, those editions were snapped up from local shelves. Cam Mu, who runs the Chinese diner, denied the story and said: “That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard.”…

Eyebrows were raised when the case was covered by the local paper — and its North Somerset editions sold out in Weston-super-Mare and a 40-mile radius around the seaside town.

Newsagents and supermarkets said two men were seen buying up all copies of the paper in their stores. Terry Hawkins, circulation director at the Bristol-based Evening Post, said: “This is the first time in eight years doing this job that I can recall such feverish buying behaviour.”

Technorati tags: Newspapers, PR, Public Relations, Restaurants