Killer clowns ‘armed with machetes’ target drivers parked at traffic lights even climbing on one mum’s bonnet and threatening her kids
Two clowns emerged from bushes and began running towards the cars sending one driver fleeing through a red light
CLOWNS armed with "machetes" jumped onto a mum's car bonnet and terrified her children as they scared drivers in Manchester.
Mum-of-two Alice Slattery pulled up at traffic lights outside Manchester Fort shopping centre when two clowns emerged from the bushes and began running towards the cars.
She said her two children began screaming and she saw a clown lying across her bonnet.
With four-year-old Lily and three-year-old Honey clearly terrified she honked her horn and began to drive off, forcing the clown to jump from the car.
Kurtis Mulvaney saw the clowns half an hour later on Sunday when he stopped at the same lights.
He saw the creepy pair looking through his car window with a, likely fake, machete, and managed to take a picture.
Alice, 28, said: "It was like something out of a horror movie.
"I had just looked around to check the two girls were OK and Lily started suddenly screaming.
"I turned round and there was a clown lay across the bonnet. His feet were close to the driver's side wheel and he was leaning on his elbow as if he was posing, like he was showing off.
"But he didn't have a normal clown mask on - it was quite a scary one. I was shocked. I didn't know whether to laugh or scream so I beeped my horn and luckily the lights changed so I started to drive and he jumped off.
"I felt a bit sick, I was just rushing but I was more concerned about the kids. I would have just driven through the lights if they hadn't changed.
"As I drove I away I saw another had been stood behind the car in the road. He had something in his hand but I couldn't see what it was.
"I managed to calm the girls down by saying it was just people playing for Halloween. They are OK now but it was all just a bit weird and surreal to be honest.
"I think it was just people messing around but you never know really.
"It's dangerous though. I could have ran them over and then I would have been in trouble. From just a silly prank, that's not good.
"They should think about the consequences as someone could be really hurt. Someone could just get scared and make a jerk reaction to them.
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"I had seen lots online about clowns over the weekend but you don't expect something like that to happen to yourself.
"My friend lives in Timperley and she told me that there were two stood in her back garden staring in her window last night."
Alice says she later saw the picture shared by Kurtis and realised his photo was the same two clowns who terrorised her.
The clown craze has swept the UK after a string of creepy incidents in the US, and masked people are continuing to terrify school children and adults alike.
The trend has been inspired by clown-related pranks in America, police have said, with it growing so quickly warnings have been issued.
An Instagram account promised 20 clowns will descend on Essex schools on Wednesday with knives.
Last week a masked man carrying a knife left a group of children aged 11 and 12 "upset and distressed" when he jumped out on their way to the Hermitage Academy in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, at 8.40am on Friday.
While in Suffolk, a boy "younger than a teenager" was chased by "several people dressed as clowns" in Beatty Road, Sudbury, at 8pm on Thursday, Suffolk Constabulary confirmed.
Tom Jackson, 18, a first year student at Leeds Beckett University was "very scared" when he saw a man dressed as a clown near an underpass in Leeds at 4.30am on Friday.
A 13-year-old boy was arrested in the Blakelaw area of the city on Tuesday following reports of someone dressed as a clown attempting to scare passers-by.
Shaniece Price was approached in Birmingham by a person wearing a clown mask, with long red hair, before she was followed into the pub she had taken refuge in.
A brave woman in Cornwall who said she was jumped on by two teenage "idiots" dressed as clowns in car park had the last laugh as her dog chased them off.
Aimee Gilbert posted on Facebook today about her encounter with the two clowns and she wasn't happy about it.
She changed her status on Facebook to "feeling angry" and said the jokers were either 15 or 16 years old and were dressed in "clown masks, black hoodies and black trousers and trainers."
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A group of friends who met for a meal in Bracknell, Berks, had a scare over the weekend as they noticed a creepy figure wearing a mask looking through the window.
Leah Woodcock was eating at a BBQ restaurant when she saw the clown.
This weekend Thames Valley Police were called to 14 reports of people being intimidated or frightened by others dressed as clowns, Gloucestershire Police had six reports and South Wales Police attended numerous reports.
In Crawley, West Sussex, a clown with a hatchet was seen by a motorist in a park while another was seen on a street corner.
A pensioner was terrified and forced to run into a pub for help after a clown with a machete and a "severed head" blocked his path in Ashford, Kent.
Richard Bachman, 73, said: "I understand these people are having fun but I have a heart condition and a weak bladder and I do not find this funny.
";It is very distressing, in my younger years I would have ran against these idiots and taught them a lesson."
In Chorley, Lancashire, a person dressed in a full clown outfit wandered through the streets of a residential area - before lurking outside a family house for 15 minutes, until a brave woman told it to "p*** off".
Kurtis, an events organiser from Manchester, said of the incident in Manchester on Sunday: "It definitely freaked out some people. One driver at the lights was scared by them that he just drove off through a red light as he didn't want to stop near them.
"People were panicking and some people who were on foot ran away from them into their apartments. They were causing havoc.
"I had seen news about people dressing as clowns on the news – that's why I took a picture.
"People like myself think it's quite funny but children won't. There are people with real phobias of clowns too and they will be really scared by it.
"Because of their masks I couldn't tell their ages but they were probably between 16 and 20. They had a machete but I don't think it was real.
"In my opinion it's going to get really bad over the next few weeks and clowns will be everywhere for Halloween, when it will peak.
"Then it will get annoying and people will get bored and probably stop. I suppose it depends on how imaginative they are.
"I think they were just kids messing around but I think climbing on a woman's bonnet with her kids in the car is a bit extreme."
Neither Alice or Kurtis reported the incident to police.
As authorities fear for the safety of children, multiple safety warnings have been issued by the US police.
The craze has now reached the UK with bizarre reports of clowns scaring adults and children.
Killer clown sightings
HERE are just some of the chilling UK clown sightings in the past week alone . . .
CHESTER-LE-STREET, Co Durham: A knife-wielding clown pursued four young children, aged 11 and 12, on their way to school.
STRETFORD, Gtr Manchester: Children were left “petrified” by a driver motoring through the streets wearing a clown mask.
GLOUCESTER: Six reports were made of “pranksters” dressed as clowns wielding knives, following people or acting suspiciously.
ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE, Gtr Manchester: A man dressed as a clown with an outfit including “a hockey mask and a blood-stained poncho” was captured on camera.
ELLESMERE PORT, Cheshire: Residents reported clowns roaming the streets. Two teenage girls were said to have been chased.
PLYMOUTH: A man posted a video online showing him being confronted at night in the town by a clown armed with a hammer. Meanwhile, multiple reports were received of people dressed as clowns, including one near a school bus. Another incident saw children chased through woodland.
BROTTON, North Yorks: A young girl reported seeing a figure wearing a clown mask and carrying a blade, while a woman and her daughter were followed by a clown while walking late at night.
SUDBURY, Suffolk: “Several people dressed as clowns” chased a boy “younger than a teenager”, according to police.
LIVERPOOL: A man dressed as a clown was seen driving a Ford Transit van through the city centre.
DUNDEE: Cops were called to Finlathen Park after eight youngsters in clown masks were spotted frightening motorists in the area.
SHEFFIELD: A clown was spotted driving around the Hillsborough area using a mobility scooter. Pictures circulated on social media.
PONTELAND, Northumberland: Pupils at Ponteland Middle School were confronted by a man dressed as a clown on the school grounds who chased them across playing fields.
CLACTON, Essex: Two young girls on their way to school were approached by a pair of male clowns in a black van who invited the girls to a birthday party. The girls fled in terror.
CAERNARFON, North Wales: Residents witnessed a clown lurking near a kids’ play centre late at night.
NEWCASTLE: A 13-year-old boy was given a police warning after allegedly dressing as a clown and scaring passers-by. Cops confiscated a knife.
NORTH SHIELDS, Tyne and Wear: Panicked pupils at Thomas More Academy were rushed inside after a figure in a white mask and red wig was seen approaching schoolchildren.
CRAWLEY, Sussex: A clown was pictured standing on a street corner in the night.
MANCHESTER: Two clowns were seen running from bushes and jumping onto cars outside a shopping centre on Sunday evening.
BRACKNELL, Berks: A clown was picture staring into a restaurant full of diners
BIRMINGHAM: A young woman was harassed by a clown and followed into a pub
ASHFORD, Kent: A clown holding a machete and a "severed head" blocked the path of a 73-year-old man
CHORLEY, Lancashire: A creepy clown lurked outside a family home for 15 minutes as it wandered up and down a street
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