Police are reassuring people they are not in danger from marauding clowns after a Porirua sighting put parents in a panic.

Hot on the heels of a creepy clown epidemic sweeping the United States, reports of a clown "lurking" at a Porirua school have worried some parents.

On Wednesday night, Natalie Taputu's sons were playing basketball at Discovery School in Whitby when her eldest son went to retrieve a runaway ball.

The public have nothing to fear from clowns, a police spokesperson said.

"He went around a corner and saw a clown just lurking there ... it was wearing yellow pants, a yellow top and had white all over his face and a red nose.

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﻿"My son wasn't sure if the clown was watching the kids play, but he just got the little kids out of there and came straight home."

Taputu said that, after quizzing her son, she thought it was best to call police and report the suspicious behaviour. "It may be a joke, but it's really not that funny, especially if it happened to very young kids."

She posted the information on a Porirua Facebook page to let parents know to keep an eye on their children playing at the school, she said.

More than 100 people had commented on the post, some sharing other sightings of clowns and others promising vigilante action against anyone donning a red nose in the area.

"Anyone seen in a clown suit is going to get a hiding," vowed one poster.

On Thursday, Taputu's son, who didn't want to be named, said he didn't think dressing up as a clown to scare people was very funny at all.

"We got out of there straight away. He had his hands behind his back and I didn't know if he had a weapon or not."

A Facebook account under the name of Killaz Clownee announced "We are here New Zealand" the same day he saw the clown, the boy said.

Other alleged sightings in Auckland were shared on Twitter on Thursday, but none could be verified by police.

New Zealand's clown fraternity said it was no laughing matter that people were dressing like them to scare people.

"It could have an adverse affect," according to Ken Samson, who has performed as Cherry for the past 25 years.

"It's a bit of a blow that it's happening, but what can you do? It's just young people doing stupid things.

"I've been young and I've been stupid myself."

Mark "Jiggles" Felton, a clown for 27 years, said he had never seen anything like the current "fad" of people in the US dressing up and sharing scary videos on social media, and he hoped it wouldn't spread in New Zealand.

He likened the mania to the impact of Stephen King's It, whose main character Pennywise has become the iconic evil clown.

At a third birthday party he performed at years ago, the birthday boy burst into tears as soon as Jiggles arrived. He found out later that the boy had been allowed to watch the movie spin-off of It the night before.

The Washington Post said a fear of clowns – known as coulrophobia – rattled schools in the Washington DC region this week, and a Maryland high school was locked down after a clown-based Instagram threat.

Marsha Gallagher, who has been working as a clown since 1976, said rising paranoia about clowns had led to fewer jobs.

"It's getting to the point where we're uncomfortable going out with your whole clown persona on."

Wellington police said they responded to a report about 7.30pm on Wednesday of a man near Discovery School in Whitby with what appeared to be clown makeup or a mask, but didn't find anybody.

A spokesperson said police were aware of the social media reports, but it was not illegal for someone to walk around in a clown suit or mask, and warned against vigilante action.

"We are not aware of any substantiated reports in New Zealand of clown sightings emerging as a concern. Police want to reassure the public that there appears to be no criminal element or public safety risk to reports of this in New Zealand."

They urged people to call 111 to report any suspicious behaviour or concerns.

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