A gutted mum was forced to abandon a fun-filled dinosaur fun-run after a stranger called the cops.
Samantha Clarkson and her pals were running around a public park dressed in 7ft-tall lizard costumes.
The mum-of-three planned the run with five friends to cheer up her kids, Noah and Harry.
But their joy was short-lived after an ‘idiot’ stranger asked if they had a permit and called the police.
Samantha and her fellow dinos, husband Dean, friends Deborah and Warren and daughters in law, Ella and Emily, were forced to flee the park in Bolton, the Manchester Evening News reported.
Samantha, a childminder, said: “We were having a wonderful time and kids were loving it, then we found out some idiot had phoned the police, I couldn’t believe it.
“We were just trying to cheer some kids up after such a miserable year, we weren’t hurting anyone.
“We had no choice but to leave because we didn’t want to risk getting arrested, although watching the police chase six dinosaurs would have been funny.”
Samantha let everyone know about the run on Facebook and invited them and their families.
And during the impromptu event she ensured the crowd remained socially distanced and no one got too close.
Samantha added: “We were concerned about the safety aspect and we made sure that everyone would take care, that’s why my sons came.
“Everyone was being sensible anyway, there were no problems at all.”
Samantha, who runs a childminding business, said shortly after the event started one of her sons was approached by the man in question.
She said: “At first it was like he was just interested in what we were doing, he was asking questions.
“But then he said, ‘have you got a permit?’
“And after that, he rang the police, which is when we knew we had to leave. We didn’t want to get arrested or anything.”
Samantha added: “It was such a shame because the kids haven’t had much to do over the past 12 months, which is why we wanted to go out in the outfits.
“The idea was just to give people a bit of a laugh, and it was going really well until this man rang the police.”
Samantha was “so angry” about the altercation with the man at the park she decided to get her Dino suit back on and head to the park a second time.
She added: “I didn’t want to let that man decide what we could and couldn’t do, so Dean and I headed back out in the outfits.
“We had a great time and the kids loved it. Luckily we didn’t see the man again.”
She now has her sights set on breaking the world record for ‘most people in dinosaur outfits in one place’, which is currently set at 252.
