Bubbles: the teenager who makes the fountains foam

THIS is the teenager who turned Trafalgar Square's fountains into a giant bubble bath as a "fountain foam party" craze swept Europe this week.

The fountains had to be turned off after users of a social network site pulled off the stunt to earn bragging rights.

The stunt was orchestrated by members of Bragster.com an online community where users challenge each other to stunts and then post videos of their dares.

Pranksters have already struck at Berlin's famous Neptune Fountain in Alexanderplatz and in Lyon on Monday, prior to the Trafalgar stunt.

The self-styled "Mr Bubbles" led the London raid on Tuesday lunchtime, while friends videoed the stunt. His two-minute "victory" video opens with the message "Target: Trafalgar Square, Aim: Bubble it up!"

He can be seen jumping into the square's two fountains with carrier bags of detergent, bubble bath and washing up liquid.

Within 20 minutes, the fountains were a sea of bubbles and maintenance staff had to turn off the water jets.

Speaking to the Standard, "Mr Bubbles" a 19-year-old film-making student from Kilburn said: "I have been wanting to do this for years. I have always been fascinated by fountains and love bubbles. When the French pulled off Lyon, I got some tips from them.

"I used my bath to test the mixture for bubbles and then four of us executed the plan. They switched off the fountains but it was too late. There were bubbles everywhere. A huge crowd formed and everyone was playing with the bubbles. It was funny to watch. It put a smile on a lot of faces and I made sure the materials were eco-friendly. It was harmless fun."

Mr Bubbles has tried to hide his identity but he is also known as "Billzy" on the social network and is pictured on his profile page. His previous pranks include directing traffic in a high-visibility jacket and posing as a piece of still art in galleries.

He warned of further foam parties. He said: "Mr Bubbles is not going to stop at one fountain. Another English city is being targeted this weekend."

Bragster.com dubbed "Jackass meets Facebook" has grown to almost a million users since launching in early 2007, with recent dares including heavy metal music in a library.

Authorities failed to see the funny side of the Trafalgar Square stunt.

A Greater London Authority spokesman said: "Our staff had to check to see whether the substance was anything seriously damaging to a very important piece of architecture. This was an act of vandalism."