Police have revealed they were called to 77 incidents in a week when clown-mania swept Cumbria.

The creepy craze hit the UK earlier this month, having already made headlines in America.

Cumbria Police have now revealed it received its first reported incident on October 9, and it rapidly escalated from there.

A spokesman said: "The force received 79 reports of clown incidents, between October 9 and October 17.

"The most recent reports came in on Monday, when we received two clown-related calls."

Dozens of creepy clown-related reports came in from across the county in the first few days.

At first they were of youths dressed as clowns, jumping out and scaring passers by, but it quickly descended into something more sinister.

Officers were called to a terrified young boy who'd been confronted outside a Workington leisure centre by a clown brandishing what he thought was an axe - although it later turned out to be a stick - and to a man chased around Carlisle's Hammond's Pond.

The most terrifying related to a teenage girl, who had been sent messages by a 'clown' on Facebook, threatening to slit her throat and rape her.

Senior police officers appealed for public calm as angry residents threatened to take matters into their own hands, and pleaded with the clowns to stop.

The figures come in the same week the county's very own Batman gave his only interview to the News & Star .

The man, who describes himself as "a father, a husband - and Batman last", became a global sensation after he began reassuring children that they were safe from clowns.

A video about our very own superhero was made by entertainment website The Lad Bible, and shared on their Facebook site.

It has since been viewed almost 18m times, and shared by more than 265,000 people.

However, Batman has shunned publicity, insisting he never intended to get so much attention - and was simply doing it for the children.