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Creepy clowns caused 500 scared children to contact Childline in just three weeks.

The NSPCC warned that anyone who deliberately intimidates a child could be committing an offence.

The deluge of contacts to Childline reflects a flurry of reported creepy clown incidents across the UK.

Police reports have included a clown with a machete threatening two teenage girls in Suffolk and in a separate incident in Deighton, West Yorkshire, three knife-wielding clowns tried to snatch a three-month-old baby from her mother.

In Dinnington, South Yorkshire, 17-year-old Owen Russell was left needing stitches after a man in an alleyway wearing a clown mask threw a branch at his head.

In the last three weeks Childline has been contacted 462 times by children afraid of creepy clowns – providing 84 clown-related counselling sessions on one day alone.

Nearly a third of counselling sessions carried out by the charity on the subject of clowns were with children under the age of 11 - reaching 139 in total - and three quarters of those who got in touch over clown fears were girls.

The contacts to Childline reveal a mixture of children afraid of clowns after seeing scary videos online and on social media, as well as those threatened or frightened by creepy clowns in their neighbourhood.

An NSPCC spokesperson said: “Wearing spooky fancy dress for Halloween is a time-honoured tradition, but we fear the recent creepy clown craze could see Halloween used as an opportunity to molest, intimate or harm children. Creepy clowns are all trick and no treat; those dressing up with the intention of threatening children need to be aware that they could be breaking the law – particularly if they are carrying weapons.

“If a child is worried they should call Childline on 0800 1111 or get in touch via chidline.org.uk”