'They are not real clowns' - Shropshire's Flip the clown hits out at scaring craze
A professional children's entertainer today spoke of the so-called horror clown craze, which he says is seriously damaging the reputation of his trade.
Flip the clown, of Bridgnorth, says those putting on costumes in an attempt to scare members of the public are undoing the efforts of the industry to help some people to overcome their fear of clowns.
His comments follow the craze that has seen mystery characters appear in towns across the region, prompting a police appeal for it to stop.
The party entertainer, who launched his act Flip, Dippy & Co more than 20 years ago, says: "From my point of view the people involved in this craze are not real clowns, but just people messing about and thinking that they are funny. The majority of people will realise that this is not the behaviour of a real clown.
"All this is negative publicity that is not beneficial to those of us who earn a living working as clowns.
"When I go to a birthday party and a child is worried about clowns or puppets I wave and smile a lot at them to re-assure them and after 10 to 15 minutes they will come and sit with the other children and join in the fun and games."
Officers were seen knocking on doors on Oswestry earlier this week after reports about a clown spotted in Upper Church Street, near the town's The Marches School.
There were also unsubstantiated reports of a clown lurking around Grove School in Drayton and another report of a clown chasing people in Muxton, Telford.
There have been at least 37 reports of incidents involving clown characters in the West Mercia Police region in recent weeks, with at least three in Shropshire between last Wednesday and yesterday. The police say that the reports include people posting on social media, as well as sightings of people dressed as clowns.
Dyfed-Powys Police said that around 30 reports of clown-related incidents were made to them over the weekend.
Most of the calls were to report sightings of clowns, some people reported feeling scared and there were isolated incidents that are being investigated further. No arrests have been made.
Yesterday a 'Telford Clowns' Instagram account set up in the town was closed down after police received a number of calls about it.
The account caused distress to several members of the public through comments that had been posted, said officers.
PCSO Ruth Williams from The Nedge Safer Neighbourhood Team said "We have identified the people behind this page and they have been dealt with accordingly.
"We have notified Instagram who are in the process of closing the account down.
"Once this is done the account and posts will no longer be viewable."
