Police have given further warnings about the potential consequences of the "killer clowns" craze that is sweeping Britain.

The advice comes as people in Bradford have started reporting sightings on social media.

Reader Kath Campbell, who lives on the Holme Wood estate, got in touch with the Telegraph & Argus about her encounter last night with a clown.

She said: "At about 7pm my kids opened the door to a friend. As they were chatting, one of these clowns walked past and terrified them. I found out later he chased the friend home. Total idiots!"

On Saturday night, Jolene Crosby took to Facebook to say she thought "all this clown stuff" was rubbish "until tonight, when I had one staring at me through a window!!....it's proper freaked me out."

She saw the masked figure outside a pub in Bradford.

Reader Maryam Khan has been in touch to say she saw a clown figure outside a shop on Killinghall Road. "He was stood on the side of the road waving at the cars that drove past," she said.

She also said she'd seen "a different clown dressed in blue and red in Bradford Kirkgate Market chasing people".

Carmel Jade Samuels posted a picture of someone in a white clown suit on a residential street in the city which she had been told was near her house.

Reader Sean Dunn wrote to us saying he had seen a clown on Rooley Lane, near the Asda store, at around 6.15pm today.

M Evans wrote to say he was taking his four-year-old for his weekly swimming lesson at Eccleshill Pool today when a group of six or seven youths aged around 12 ran through the car park wearing clown masks and carrying fake knives, machetes and other weapons including large sticks.

"They ran into the pool entrance using foul language and upsetting my son. Some of the pool staff saw them off the premises."

He went on to say he recognised some of the youths who had removed their masks as residents of Greengates.

"We were glad to be able to get into our vehicle and leave the premises as soon as possible."

Derek Goodall, said he had seen a clown walking in the middle of the road in Wyke yesterday evening.

Another reader, Chris Sheridan, posted a Facebook message making the point: "Have police ever thought to put a warning out in shops to ask for ID and names and addresses of people buying the masks and outfits?"

Tom Jackson, 18, a first-year student at Leeds Beckett University, said he was "very scared" when he saw a man dressed as a clown near an underpass in Leeds at 4.30am on Friday.

A man dressed as a clown "wearing a hockey mask and a blood-stained poncho" was also captured on camera in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, on Thursday evening.

South Wales Police said it had received a number of reports in recent days about people dressed as clowns acting suspiciously and frightening members of the public.

A police spokesman said: "We have received a small number of similar reports locally and would like to remind people that this behaviour can cause concern and worry, particularly to young children and the elderly, and they may end up committing an offence."

A Bradford Council spokesman said: “There was a minor incident at Eccleshill Pool at Saturday tea-time when a group of youngsters wearing clown masks were causing a nuisance. Some of them were holding plastic knives. A member of the pool staff asked them to leave. It was over in seconds so was not considered serious enough to report to the police.”

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The "clown craze", also known as "killer clown", appears to have been inspired by clown-related pranks in the US and has seen a string of copycat incidents across the country.

Gloucestershire Police said it had received six reports of incidents happening in Gloucester and warned of the consequences if perpetrators were caught.

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 Police said.

Earlier this week, Northumbria Police issued an appeal and warning after a series of incidents in Newcastle involving people dressed as clowns jumping out and scaring schoolchildren.

A 13-year-old boy was arrested in the Blakelaw area of the city following reports of someone dressed as a clown attempting to scare passers-by.

In Essex, two Clacton County High School schoolgirls were approached by two people dressed as clowns who asked them if they wanted to attend a birthday party at 9.20am on Tuesday.

While others have mostly escaped unharmed from the "frightening" incidents, police are warning potential offenders they still may be committing a Public Order Offence.

People on social media have also reported clown sightings in Cheshire, North Wales, Dundee, Norwich, London, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield.