The Daily Telegraph By

Police have issued an alert across France about the dangers of "evil clown" attacks over the Hallowe'en weekend.

The warning on Facebook and Twitter came as one village in the south of the country banned teenagers from dressing up as clowns at its traditional Hallowe'en procession to avoid spreading panic. Some fancy dress shops are either refusing to sell the outfits or asking for identification before doing so.

The alert follows a spate of incidents in which thugs dressed as clowns and armed with knives or iron bars have terrified or even attacked passers-by.

Police issued a statement entitled "Evil Clown Phenomenon" on their national website reminding people that "carrying a weapon in public is a crime punishable by a prison sentence".

The village of Vendargues, population 6,000, near Montpellier, issued a decree on Thursday warning that "individuals or groups of people aged 13 or more" were banned from dressing up as clowns on streets and in public spaces yesterday and today. After that, anyone wishing to dress up as a clown would require official authorisation.

"Since the weekend a psychosis has erupted in our village," Pierre Dudieuziere, the local mayor, told Le Parisien. "Parents and grandparents didn't want to take part in the procession, or even to send their children. This is not a measure against clowns but against troublemakers who could seek to profit from the event."

The Hallowe'en procession will be given a police escort.

One fancy dress shop in Arras, northern France, has been asking minors for ID before selling any clown masks or outfits, while others are advising parents to opt for zombie or vampire disguises.

"We don't have a single item that refers to a clown," said a shop owner in Lille. The phenomenon first appeared in Perigueux, south-western France, earlier this month when a teenager threatened passers-by with a fake gun, later saying he wanted to copy a YouTube prank.

It then spread to northern France, where police said people reported spotting clowns "outside schools, but also on public roads, in bushes, in a square".

It led police in the Pas-de-Calais to issue a warning that "clowns inspired by Texas Chainsaw Massacre are not welcome outside schools".

Last week, a 19-year-old received a six-month suspended sentence in Bethune after dressing as a clown and using an iron bar to terrorise a six-year-old.

Then over the weekend police arrested 14 teenagers dressed as clowns and carrying weapons in the Mediterranean port town of Agde. On Monday, a fake clown who chased a man down a street and beat him with an iron bar in Montpellier was jailed for four months.

Since then in Macon, in Burgundy two teenagers intrigued by a giant jack-in-the-box on the pavement were frightened when a clown jumped out from behind a hedge brandishing a sword.

The incidents are seen by some as attempts to emulate the TV series American Horror Story or YouTube killer clown videos - including one by the Italian DM Pranks Production that has been viewed 30?million times in five months.