A knife-wielding clown has been spotted scaring children in local playgrounds, a mother has warned.
Worried mother-of-two, Zoe Woodward, said her two children were confronted by someone dressed in a clown costume holding a kitchen knife while playing in a friend's garden in Mottingham, South East London.
Police have now launched an investigation into the incident.
The person was wearing a clown mask, it is claimed.
"My children are even more scared to go outside and my eight-year-old is scared to leave the house," Zoe told the News Shopper.
"The knife as they explained was a kitchen knife and they are actually too scared to talk about it.
"I have told them the police have put them in prison to make them feel better."
She also wrote on Facebook : "Watch your kids, some p**** going around dressed as a clown with a knife chasing them."
Police have said it is an "isolated incident" and that none of the children were harmed.
A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: "Police were called at 10.06pm on August 18 with reports that a group of children had been threatened by a suspect with a knife.
"No children were physically harmed during the incident which was reported to have happened between 6.30pm and 7pm.
"The suspect, whose gender is not known, was thought to be between 5ft 6in and 5ft 7in tall.
"They were reported to be wearing a clown mask and clown costume.
"At this stage this is being treated as an isolated incident."
Anyone with information should call police on 101.
