The “killer clown” craze that is sweeping the UK after gaining notoriety in the US is wasting emergency resources and pranksters are being urged to consider the consequences, police say.

Beginning with a spate of incidents in the US in the run-up to Halloween, people have been dressing up in scary clown costumes, with some chasing and assaulting members of the public.

In the latest UK occurrences, Gloucestershire police said they had received six reports of people dressed as clowns acting suspiciously, following members of the public or wielding knives around Gloucester.

Officers said the incidents were causing alarm in the community and tying up police resources. “The reports have been made in the Gloucester area and have mostly involved clowns carrying knives. In one case a child was followed,” a spokesman said.

“Clearly this has scared people and caused real distress. We have attended these incidents as grade one emergencies and that limits our ability to attend to other incidents. We haven’t traced anyone involved as yet as they have disappeared by the time we arrive, but anyone we do find will be dealt with appropriately.

“Whether those involved are doing it for a joke or not, this is no laughing matter. These are stupid acts that are really frightening people and wasting our time. Please don’t be tempted to do it. Think of the consequences.”



Elsewhere in the UK, a masked man carrying a knife left a group of children aged 11-12 “upset and distressed” when he jumped out as they were on their way to school in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, on Friday morning.

In Suffolk, a young boy was chased by several people dressed as clowns in Sudbury on Thursday evening, police said. Around the same time, a man dressed as a clown “wearing a hockey mask and a blood-stained poncho” was captured on camera in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester.

Tom Jackson, 18, a student at Leeds Beckett University, said he was scared by a man dressed as a clown near an underpass in Leeds at 4.30am on Friday.

Earlier this week, Northumbria police issued a warning after a series of incidents in Newcastle involving people dressed as clowns jumping out and scaring schoolchildren. A 13-year-old boy was arrested in the Blakelaw area of the city following reports of someone dressed as a clown attempting to scare passers-by.



Police have said potential offenders may be committing a public order offence.

People on social media have also reported clown sightings in Cheshire, North Wales, Dundee, Norwich, London, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield.