An Arbroath woman claims she saw a “clown with a knife” sitting in the middle of an unlit path in the dark.
Rachael Crighton spotted the figure as she was about to walk down the path which connects Camus Road and St Abb’s Road in the Hayshead area of the town on Monday night.
The terrified 18-year-old she ran away as the clown started to stand up.
Rachael said she had previously been informed by a friend of a similar but separate incident at the site.
The sighting comes as the craze for people dressing as “killer clowns” to scare people in the run-up to Halloween continues.
Rachael said: “My friend told me a couple of weeks back a bunch of guys came running out of the same path saying that they had flashed their torch down the path and that there was a clown standing there with a knife in its hand.
“It’s a path that’s between houses and it doesn’t have any lights. I was just coming home from my mum’s house on Monday at about 8pm and I shone my torch down the path and I just saw it sitting there.
“It was wearing a white mask with scary teeth and a red wig. I saw it starting to stand up and I just ran and went another way.
“It’s a little bit unsettling. I was only a few metres away but wasn’t close enough to see if it was a real knife or a toy knife. I ran out of there.”
Rachael said she didn’t report the matter to police as she didn’t have a working phone with her at the time. She said that she has seen other clowns in other areas of the town in the last week.
“There are different clowns going about Arbroath,” she continued.
“I work as a dog sitter on Fridays and when I passed the water tower near Keptie Pond last week I saw a clown there at about 6.30am.
“Then when I came back from work it was still there at about 7pm at night. I’ve also seen clowns at Horlodge Hill and St Abb’s Road.People should be careful in these areas at night or early morning.
“I think it’s just people trying to spoil Halloween for kids. I’ve heard that a lot of children are not going out trick or treating this year because of the clown craze.”
Police Scotland wouldn’t confirm if it had received reports of clown sightings in Arbroath.
Superintendent David Duncan has previously warned that action will be taken against people seeking to cause “distress or potential harm”.
He said: “We have had a few sporadic reports of individuals dressed as clowns in some areas in Scotland.
“It is assessed that there is a current trend of similar incidents on social media, many of which have been confirmed as hoaxes and emanate from overseas.
“The reports which have been made to local police officers are being investigated and do not specifically involve threats or violence.
“However, any person seeking to cause distress and potential harm to anyone should be aware that police will take action. If anyone has any concerns they should report the matter to police.”
