Terrified kids screamed for their parents after a fully grown man dressed as a clown "ran at them with a knife".

Zoe Woodward said her kids, Frankie, eight, and Stephen, six, were chased by a "fully grown man" with a knife while playing in a garden.

The frightening ordeal happened on Sunday, August 18, at around 6pm on Sennen Walk in Mottingham.

Zoe was at a friend’s house when her kids rushed inside screaming.

"Becky (an adult) walked in, locked the doors and said to us that there’s a clown on the corner of the green staring at the children waving a knife before it ran towards them," Zoe recalled.

Zoe said she looked out of the window and saw a glimpse of "fake red hair" but said the suspect was walking away and that she didn’t want to approach someone with a knife.

She added that Frankie, who has special needs, has always been scared of clowns.

"He was screaming terrified," mum Zoe told News Shopper. "My children are even more scared to go outside and my eight-year-old is scared to leave the house.

"My friend and her daughter walked us home and to be honest I’m scared as well."

Zoe, who lives near Mottingham Primary School, said a person dressed as a clown has been seen chasing kids in the area a "few times" in the past three months.

She informed the police about Sunday's scare who are investigating what they believe is an isolated incident.

Zoe added: "The knife as they explained was a kitchen knife and they are actually too scared to talk about it.

"I have told them the police have put them in prison to make them feel better."

In 2016 a series of clown sightings were reported in Britain after the craze first made the news in America. 

A police spokesman said they were called to reports of a group of kids who had been threatened by a suspect with a knife.

He added: "No children were physically harmed during the incident which was reported to have happened between 6.30pm and 7pm.

"The suspect, whose gender is not known, was thought to be between 5’6ins and 5’7ins tall.

"They were reported to be wearing a clown mask and clown costume.

"At this stage this is being treated as an isolated incident."

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting CAD7626/18August.