Clown Craze
In light of the recent reports of incidents in our force area, the Avon & Somerset Constabulary has issued the below statement:
During the past few days we have received several reports of people dressed as clowns and behaving in an anti-social and threatening manner.
It follows a number of similar incidents across the country which have been widely reported in the national media.
Insp Julie Knight, of the local policing directorate, said: "We don't want to stop people enjoying themselves but we'd like to ask people to consider how their behaviour will affect others.
"These incidents can potentially be very distressing and frightening for those involved and we are taking all reports made to us seriously.
"Anyone involved in intimidating or threatening behaviour may well end up committing an offence, being arrested and having a criminal record and we'd urge them to think carefully about the consequences of their actions.
"We're aware of a number of social media groups raising concerns about this type of behaviour and we'd ask people to refrain from taking matters into their own hands and to report anything they are worried about to us.
"We'd also like to remind people that in dealing with these issues valuable police resources are also being used, potentially impacting on our capacity to respond to other more serious incidents."
Anyone with information can report it to us via www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/contact-us/tell-us-something.