Police say they have not received any reports of a clown committing crimes in Bradford, despite dozens of claims of a bizarre wave terror on social media.

Sites like Facebook and Twitter were last night awash with talk of the “Bradford Clown,” with some people claiming they are responsible for burglaries and muggings in the city and peering into windows.

One person posted a photograph of somebody dressed as a clown stood in the city centre, outside McDonalds.

But West Yorkshire Police this morning confirmed no clown related crimes have been reported in the city.

Some of the alleged sightings took place in the Holme Wood area, and led to one Bradfordian taking to Facebook to say: “Someone was meant to have been broken into last night, and it was a clown, and police and that were there but why isn’t it on the news?”

Many of the posts expressed terror that a clown could be terrorising the city.

But other people remained more sceptical, with one person following the story on Facebook saying: “First he was meant to be staring in houses, now it’s robbing.”

The sightings coincided with similar posts on social media about clowns appearing in Sheffield, Hull, Leeds and Scunthorpe.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: “This seems like it might be a hoax. We haven’t had any reports of crimes committed by a clown, I can say that much.”

He said anyone with information about crimes should report them to the police.

Last month the “Northampton clown” became an international phenomenon following a number of bizarre photographs posted online of a costumed prankster in otherwise mundane locations. It created a similar social media frenzy, but there were never any crimes reported.