OK, so children will be children, but this scary clown business seems to have gone too far, and has already taken a rather sinister twist.

And, with still a week to go until Halloween, it seems this new “craze” is still on the go.

It has been spawned from the US and I was left wondering if its real aim was to take the edge off the utter embarrassment of an election there, where two rather theatrical clowns (one more imposing than the other) find themselves as the front runners for president!

It’s all pretty straightforward stuff. It involves groups or “gangs” of mainly children dressing up as evil clowns and jumping out on people. Except it’s not all that funny, as it’s leaving some children absolutely terrified and families very concerned.

Two youngsters from the borough have been arrested on public order offences in Stanford-le-Hope. And they even had their costumes confiscated.

They were even goaded by police chief Lewis Basford who tweeted: “New clown craze of scaring the public has just seen two juveniles arrested in #Thurrock. Who’s the clown now?” I like that :)

It’s not that anyone’s being a spoilsport here, it’s just the fact it’s causing people distress.

And it has to be nipped in the bud before the actions of over-excited teens leads to a nasty confrontation with a parent whose child has just been scared witless.