SPIDERMAN, Superman, Batman, Harley Quinn and other superheroes were out in Kingsbridge on Friday to ‘make kids feel better’ about the recent ‘killer clown’ craze.

Recently, a strange craze started in America of people dressing up as scary clowns and trying to scare people has perforated into the UK, with some people dressing as clowns and carrying machetes, although there are no reports of this happening in the South Hams.

Pete Sheridan, founder of Panther Kickboxing, said: ‘A couple of kids came up to me after a kickboxing class and said they were worrying about these clowns, the older ones weren’t too bothered, but the younger ones were.

‘We wanted to show the kids that the town isn’t full of monsters, but full of fun and character. This wasn’t supposed to be a solution, just something to make the kids feel a bit better.

‘People think we were stalking around with balaclavas and baseball bats looking for people dressed up as clowns, this couldn’t be further from the truth - we had kids with us.’

Pete said that the police weren’t supportive of the move, but that they met ‘20-30’ kids that enjoyed seeing them in the town. ‘We went to Tesco and Morrisons and Aaron from the Bellissimo Pizza van gave the kids free drinks - its hot in those masks!’ said Pete.

Sgt Dave Green of Kingsbridge Police said: ‘There have been no ‘killer clowns’ or any other similar silly pranks in the South Hams area. There is no need for anyone to feel alarm, and certainly no need for people to overreact.

‘It is important to remember how unwise adult behaviour can stir up unnecessary fears in children.’