Call in the clown prosecution service - a spate of red-nosed crime has been reported across Greater Manchester.

Police dealt with 19 incidents involving people dressed as clowns last year, and most were no laughing matter.

Disguised with colourful wigs and white facepaint, smiling crooks carried out bogus charity collections, vandalised property and even carried out robberies, an FOI has revealed.

In one of the most serious incidents, recorded in Stockport last November, a man dressed as a clown threatened someone with a knife to steal their bicycle.

Other calls were received from people in Stockport to report someone dressed as a clown was going around spraying graffiti and a man dressed as a clown had followed children on their way to school.

In Rochdale there were reports of a clown lurking in an alleyway and sightings of a possible police suspect dressed as a clown wearing a blue wig, red nose, white facepaint and overalls walking down the road.

In another call to police, a teenage boy in Rochdale reported a clown holding a bunch of balloons had tried to grab him.

One worried parent from Rochdale even rang police for advice after her children returned from school saying there were rumours clowns were going around the town killing people.

It was one of five calls made to GMP where callers in Rochdale, Oldham and north Manchester said they had heard rumours of a gang of clowns committing crimes.

Two reports of a man dressed as a clown looking into peoples’ homes were also received in Bury - in one case with the clown holding a bunch of balloons as they stood outside.

But the reports weren’t all bad. In Cheadle, a caller rang police to say men dressed as clowns were trying to collect money for charity at the side of the A34 Handforth bypass - and was worried for their safety on the 50mph road.

Professional clowns have condemned the more sinister incidents, which they fear are giving their occupation a bad name.

Tony Eldridge, secretary of Clowns International, said: “The clowning profession can do without stupid people who don’t understand the profession and appreciate that it is a performing art and not a spontaneous jolly jape.”

And Dave Tawney, European director of the World Clown Association, added: “Professional clowns and children’s entertainers seek only to create fun and enjoyment for their audiences and it is regrettable when persons dressed as clowns carry out anti social behaviour.”

Dr Ann Featherstone, a drama lecturer at Manchester University who has co-written a book on Victorian clowns, said portrayals of malicious clowns in popular culture, such as in the Stephen King novel and film adaptation It, may have added to a growing fear of them in recent years.

But she added that there had probably always been some suspicion of them.

“They are masked or use makeup so you don’t see the real person underneath and the mask accentuates the grosser parts of the face,” she said.

“Their behaviour is hard to read, too, so it’s unclear whether they are very stupid or just pretending to be so and hiding a more knowing purpose.

“They demonstrate anarchic behaviour - they will not be controlled and their behaviour can be out of line, so you don’t know what they’re going to do.”

Clown incidents by borough:

Rochdale - 6 including four of suspicious circumstances involving clowns

Stockport - 4 including highway disruption and criminal damage

North Manchester - 3 including one hoax call

Bury - 2 both suspicious circumstances

The other four calls were from Bolton, Tameside, south Manchester and Oldham respectively.

Clown facts

• The word clown first appeared around the 1560s to describe someone clumsy or boorish

• The white face paint many clowns wear today was designed by 19th century music hall entertainer Joseph Grimaldi

• The traditional clown nickname Joey is also inspired by Grimaldi, who is regarded as the father of modern clowning

• Types of clowns range from the serious whiteface to the clumsy auguste

• The fear of clowns is known as coulrophobia

Case study

Among the crooked clowns caught red-nosed in Greater Manchester was a fake charity fundraiser who donned fancy dress to con drinkers out of cash.

Colin Smith wore the multi-coloured costume complete with wig and facepaint to disguise himself as he took a bucket into the Roebuck Hotel in Rochdale and claimed to be collecting money for a cystic fibrosis charity.

Landlord Anthony Dearden at first agreed to let him carry out the collection but soon became suspicious and asked him to produce ID before alerting police.

Smith, of Orange Grove, Liverpool, was arrested and hauled before magistrates in Bury, where he denied any wrongdoing.

But he was found guilty of fraud-related offences after a trial in June last year.

Smith, who had a string of similar convictions between 1996 and 2006, was sentenced to a 12 month community order with 150 hours’ unpaid work and ordered to pay £320 costs.

More news from the Manchester Evening News

Find out what's happening where you live with our In Your Area section

Read the Manchester Evening News on your phone - download the Apple MEN App here, the Android MEN App here and the Kindle app here - and get the paper as an e-edition every morning by subscribing here