Lad stunned as he opens birthday card to find out last three years have been a lie

A young Brit was given a "jaw dropping" surprise after a birthday card revealed he had spent the last three years of his life living a "lie"

A British youngster was given a "jaw dropping" surprise on his 21st birthday, after finding out he had been duped by his family over the last three years.

Charlie Austin, 21, was handed his birthday card back by his mum, Sarah Austin, in June last year, expecting the usual 'Happy Birthday' message - but what he saw in the card was far more unexpected.

In a TikTok video, Sarah filmed her son opening it up, and asked him to read the card out loud.

It said: "Happy 21st birthday, Charlie. Yay - you no longer have a black box."

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The young driver was captured jumping for joy when seeing the words, appreciative of his mum and dad for the gift.

However, all was not as it first appeared, with Charlie resuming reading his card, he realised the "jaw-dropping" truth which had been kept from him since he was 18.

He said: "I've had no black box for three years? Are you serious?"

The young lad was visibly astonished, with a couple of expletives said after he found out.

In the video Charlie stood with his hand covering his mouth, gobsmacked at what he had just found out, while sounds of his family laughing could be heard.

As he closed the card, he added: "Are you taking the p***? You're telling me it took six and a half hours to get to Cornwall?"

Charlie's dad jokingly replied: "It slowed you down though, didn't it?"

As well as his mum and dad being 'in' on the gag, the rest of his family and friends also appeared to have known the whole time, as one admitted: "we knew for years!"

They added: "When you had to slow down the other day, I was crying laughing!"

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Charlie's mum, Sarah, who goes by @sarahaustin7204, racked up nearly two million views on the post, with thousands of people expressing their support for the parenting technique.

One parent said: "Fantastic parenting!! Three years safe driving in the bag."

Another added: "This is genius level parenting."