Creepy clowns have been hitting the headlines in recent weeks, first in America and now here in New Zealand.

Some of clowning around has become serious – such as the recent attack on a woman in Hamilton – but, as yet, Tauranga remains clown-free.

There have been no reports of clowns lurking around Tauranga streets, but that hasn't stopped one local costume shop from putting a temporary ban on the clowns.

Wear It Out owner Stacey Scott says, for the moment, the clown costumes are hidden away.

'I had a lady call up this morning wanting to hire a clown costume for Halloween, and I just said it wasn't a good idea. People might get abused for wearing them to be honest.”

'I've had a few anonymous enquiries online, which I ignored. A guy came in yesterday and went straight to the masks and found one hidden away. He tried it on and wanted to buy it, but I said no.”

Other costume shops haven't yet seen a need for such measures. Kathy from Bay Costume Hire says she hasn't had any enquiries yet, but if she did, they'd be out of luck.

'I have clowns, but they're just normal ones. If people want to do their own Halloween face paint with the costumes they can, but I don't have anything specifically creepy.”

Katrine Bates from Ka-Pow Costume Hire in Papamoa only has one clown costume, and she won't be hiring it out for Halloween.

'As far as I'm concerned, clowns are for fun, not creepiness,” she says.

In regards to banning a particular costume, however, Katrine points out the costume hiring business is her livelihood, and there are far scarier costumes people could be dressing up in.

'Jason is a much scarier costume, as is Freddy Krueger. So where do you draw the line?”

Sunny's Tauranga has a range of Halloween costumes to buy, but no creepy clown masks in stock. They haven't had any enquiries either.

So, what's the verdict? It seems Taurangians are just too sensible to be sucked in by this passing fad.

Or perhaps everyone's dressing up as Harlequins this year.