A BARROW mum and her toddler were left terrified after being confronted by a knife-wielding clown as they walked down a Barrow street.

On Sunday afternoon, around 12.15pm, Terri Wilson was with her two-year-old child walking through the lane between The Forum and Wilkinsons.

As she walked, a person wearing a clown mask emerged from the stairwell of the nearby multi-storey car park.

Miss Wilson, 25, said: "I was just walking with my daughter in Barrow by the Forum and Wilkos. We were walking and he came out of the stairway."

She described the masked person as slim and of average build, thinking they could have been a teenager.

Miss Wilson said: "He was about two feet away from us. My little girl was scared.

"When I turned around I could see that he had a knife."

The punishment for carrying a bladed item in public can range from a caution to a custodial sentence, based on age and previous incidents.

Police across the country have seen a rise in encounters like this.

Cumbria Police have warned that taking part in the so called 'clown craze' is "not a joke".

Superintendent Mark Pannone said: "Dressing up as a clown to scare people may seem like a joke, but it is no laughing matter. The fear of such incidents is deeply upsetting children in Cumbria and causing them a great deal of distress. It will not be tolerated by police."

Miss Wilson quickly turned around and left the lane to get away from the clown.

She said: "He must have been waiting for someone, maybe more vulnerable. I think he was trying to scare us.

"I think it's ridiculous and terrifying. It's making people scared to leave their house."

Still shocked after her encounter, Miss Wilson saw two young men riding away on bikes down Portland Walk towards Dalton Road - one still wearing clown mask.

She said: "I managed to get on with the rest of my day, but it made me shake for about an hour afterwards."

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