Rude noodle doodle a radio host prank

I’m just letting you know so some Thai guy in a factory doesn’t get the sack.

The instant noodle packet emblazoned with a penis was apparently nothing more than an April’s fool prank gone awry.

The prankster confessed his misdeed on Saturday, worried a factory worker might lose his job.

Workers at the Port FM radio station in Ashburton were shocked to find the unusual packet in a pack of five Fantastic brand noodles sold in Mid Canterbury.

Staff member LeVonne Watts said because the noodles were in a sealed package, it appeared to have been defaced during manufacture.

She alerted the manufacturer’s New Zealand office and was told a disgruntled employee in the Thai plant may have been responsible.

But it turns out a Port FM radio host had drawn the image months before for an April’s fool prank.

Zinzan Smith, who hosts a Saturday morning sports show, read about the noodles online.

‘‘I have a confession. I put the ‘symbol’ on the noodles,’’ he wrote in an email. ‘‘I’m just letting you know so some Thai guy in a factory doesn’t get the sack.’’

He was not at the station on Fri- day when the drawing was found.

On April 1, he saw an open pack of noodles in the station kitchen. ‘‘I removed the 2nd pack, placed the ‘symbol’ on the 3rd pack and put the 2nd packet back in front of it.’’

He then closed the five-pack package so it appeared untouched.

‘‘I knew it would be found but was very surprised to find out about it on stuff.co.nz. I thought they would text around to see if anyone was responsible.’’

Smith said he ‘‘laughed quite hard’’ when he read the story, and was ‘‘still laughing’’.

He also started worrying someone might get into trouble because of his prank. ‘‘I slept on it last night and decided to write early this morning.’’ Passing motorists pulled a woman and three children from wreckage after a crash near Sanson that killed a Feilding man on Saturday.

Police were called to the westbound passing lanes near Mount Stewart on State Highway 3 at 2.04pm on Saturday, where a car and an SUV vehicle towing a horse trailer had collided.

Kent James Bond, 34, of Feilding, was travelling west towards Sanson when he lost control of his car while passing other vehicles, Acting Inspector Nigel Allan said yesterday.

Preliminary indications suggested the car then crossed the double yellow lines directly into the path of the oncoming SUV. The SUV and horse float ‘‘jack-knifed’’ and rolled, trapping the four occupants inside the vehicle, which then caught fire, he said. Bond died at the scene. Police said indications showed that excessive speed was a factor and the actions of other motorists saved the lives of the driver and passengers in the SUV.

Passers-by pulled a 41-year-old woman and three children from the burning vehicle that was on its side, on a slope.

‘‘While this is an absolutely tragic crash I have no doubt the selfless and heroic acts of those persons who came to the assistance of the people trapped in the burning vehicle have saved four lives,’’ Allan said.

The four occupants of the SUV were taken to Palmerston North Hospital where the woman was in a critical but stable condition yesterday. The three children, aged between 11 and 15, were stable in the children’s ward.