X-RATED calling cards seemingly bearing the trademark initials and logo of the Black Country's mystery Ghost Writer have left a Dudley pub landlord disgusted.

Steven Gill of the Shrewsbury Arms in Wolverhampton Street said he was "shocked" and taken aback after discovering four postcards - each with graphic scribblings which are too offensive to print.

It is not clear whether the cards are the work of the famous Mario Lanza artist AJW who has been leaving calling cards in pubs, shops and phone boxes across the Black Country and beyond for more than 50 years - or whether they are the work of a copycat artist.

Either way it has left Mr Gill and his staff dumbfounded.

He told the News: "I was appalled to find the four postcards littered with lewd pictures and foul language. If it were intended for a joke, we do not care for his sense of humour."

As a publican for nearly six years - he said he and his staff have accumulated an impressive collection of AJW signed cards and they had "always anticipated that arrival of new Mario Lanza beer mats".

But, he stressed, the latest ones will certainly "not be added to our collection".

The cards were found on a table in the pub along with a bottle with a label on - bearing a signature similar to that of the elusive Ghost Writer.

No one was seen leaving them but an elderly gentleman, wearing a distinctive hat and rings, thought to be in his early 70s, had been in the pub that afternoon.

He ordered a pint and a cob and chatted keenly to barman Josh Mills about the pub's collection of Mario Lanza cards displayed on the wall behind the bar.

The man claiming to be the elusive Ghost Writer, who granted an exclusive interview with The News in October - from behind a Halloween mask, claims the cards found were counterfeits and he said: "They're fakes. These fakes are all over the place. They're faking them by tracing them. It doesn't offend me but it's going to offend some people. It may be they're doing it to give me a bad name. It doesn't worry me. Someone once said 'if they're doing fakes you must be famous'.

He also added: "Pablo Picasso was doing rude stuff but he was crackers."

Mike Steven, who runs the Mario Lanza AJW Facebook group, said of the recent cards: “Although AJW has seemingly produced cards of a somewhat cheeky or graphic nature before - these new cards are of an explicit nature that we’ve never seen before.

"Maybe this is the original AJW trying to shock and gain attention? Maybe it is a copycat artist? The mystery deepens as each year goes by.”