Police issue warning after people dressed as clowns intimidate or frighten others in Chesham

Thames Valley Police have been called to 14 incidents in the last 24 hours where people have reported being intimidated or frightened by others dressed as clowns.

The reports have been made from across Thames Valley Region including Chesham, Bracknell, Milton Keynes and Abingdon.

The incidents follows the reports in the national media of other incidents across the country. So far nobody has reported injured due to these incidents.

Chief Supt Andy Boyd, head of neighbourhood policing, said: ‘While we do not want to be accused of stopping people enjoying themselves we would also ask those same people to think of the impact of their behaviour on others and themselves.

Their actions can cause fear and anxiety to other people, this could be perceived to be intimidating and threatening which could lead to public order offences, arrest and a criminal record.

In addition, their behaviour is causing multiple reports to our call takers and is tying up police resources which could impact on calls to other incidents.

While we realise that reports of this kind are not restricted to the Thames Valley area, the issues of intimidation, potential arrest and waste of public resources are the same across the country and we would urge people to refrain from such activity.‘