French town bans clown disguises after incidents

A small town outside Montpellier in southern France has banned people from disguising themselves as clowns from the streets — especially for Halloween.

The decision by mayor Pierre Dudieuzere of Vendargues follows a series of incidents around France in which people dressed as scary clowns spooked children and in several cases people were assaulted. In one incident, an adolescent assaulted a passerby with an iron bar.

The phenomenon spread over the past few weeks on Facebook, with groups tracking clown sightings across the country. Howeverm Vendargues, with 6,000 inhabitants, is apparently the first town to ban clowning around.