Mystery clown roams Burnley streets and parks

The sinister-looking joker, dressed in full clown garb complete with painted face and wig, was seen terrorising residents in Rosehill and Rosegrove on Tuesday evening.

A Facebook page dedicated to the comic character, entitled “Spot The Clown”, has now had more than 4,000 likes.

On the page, the mystery man apologises for scaring people in Rosehill and Rosegrove and says he will be sticking to parks from now on.

Earlier posts show he has been appearing at Towneley and Gawthorpe parks in recent weeks where he has, in his own words, been trying to meet people.

Reactions to Burnley’s very own Coco have been mixed with some seeing the funny side but others saying he has been scaring children and elderly and should give it up immediately.

One angry poster said: “He’s one sad person who needs to grow up.” Another replied though saying: “Keep up the good work clown. If I see you about I’ll get you a custard pie.”

Burnley is not the first place to be terrorised by man dressed up as a clown. In September, a clown in Northampton grabbed national headlines when he began popping up in their town centre. He was later unmasked as 22-year-old student Alex Powell. Since then there have been sightings of clowns in Chesterfield, Mansfield and Doncaster.

Police in Burnley said they had not received any complaints as of yet.