‘Shocker clown’ craze comes to Scarborough
Boy chased by two people dressed as clowns
North Yorkshire police is asking parents to warn their children of the consequences of trying to frighten people after two “clowns” jumped a boy in Scarborough.
It follows a spate of incidents across both the county and the county in recent weeks.
In Scarborough, two boys dressed as clowns jumped out on a younger boy at Seamer Cricket Pitch on Monday evening.
A police spokesman said: “We received at least eight reports from concerned members of the public about young people dressed up as clowns, jumping out at them or chasing after them.
“While some people may think this is funny, it is not for the person on the receiving end.
“It could also constitute a criminal offence if you frighten or threaten other people.
“The same applies regardless of what kind of mask you are wearing, if you set out to frighten or alarm people, you could be committing an offence.
“Of the incidents reported on Monday evening, the majority were believed to be children dressed up.”
The killer clown craze started in America and is now being reported up and down the country.
It normally involves people dressed as clowns frightening people in the run up to Halloween but there have been reports of violence.
In one shocking incident on Friday, a “killer clown” with a knife chased two children aged 11 and 12 to school in County Durham.
It was one of dozens of similar ordeals reported to police, including a masked clown lurking in an underpass in Leeds.
Between October 4 and 9, the force says there have been 44 clown incidents across the country.
The bizarre craze has even prompted retail outlet Boyes to temporarily remove a type of clown costume and clown make-up from its shelves.
Boyes’ retail operations director, Ernie Gee, said: “We have very few clown items and we just feel it’s prudent not to add to the hysteria. If there are problems – we don’t want ot be involved. We are a family store.”