A boy and a girl who were terrified by a clown waving an axe in the seaside town of Katwijk on Thursday night were the victims of a YouTube prank, police said on Friday.

The incident happened at around 22.00 hours when the clown ran screaming and shouting after the two, waving the axe. They rang the police and then followed the clown as he went on to chase two girls. Police managed to arrest the clown hiding in bushes a short while later.

A second suspect, said to be the owner of the axe, was also arrested as was a third man. Police searched the men’s car and found two other weapons. The weapons, clown costume and camera have been confiscated.

The two men, both aged 22, come from Katwijk and Valkenburg. The third man, who has been released from custody, is also 22 and from Wassenaar. He was released after paying a fine.

The group say they were trying to make a funny film to post on video sharing website YouTube.