Mums doing fun run in dinosaur costumes made to leave park after stranger rings police

A mother was made to abandon a fun run after an “idiot” called the police on them.

Samantha Clarkson and five friends decided to wear 7ft dinosaur costumes for a jog around Moss Bank Park in Bolton.

The intention was to spark joy and it was doing the trick, according to the Manchester Evening News – until a local busybody got involved.

He asked if they had a permit before calling the police, a move that prompted Samantha and her five friends – her husband Dean, friends Deborah and Warren and daughters in law Ella and Emily – to scarper from the park.

A person greeting a dinosaur

Samantha, who runs a childminding business, said: “We were having a wonderful time and kids were loving it, then we found out some idiot had phoned the police, I couldn’t believe it.

“We were just trying to cheer up some kids up after such a miserable year, we weren’t hurting anyone.

“We had no choice but to leave because we didn’t want to risk getting arrested – although watching the police chase six dinosaurs would have been funny.”

The dinosaurs recreate the iconic Beatles’ Abbey Road album artwork

Samantha had posted her plan on Facebook, encouraging friends to come along and watch.

To ensure social distancing, she roped in her sons Noah and Harry to make sure no one came to close.

Samantha Clarkson just wanted to spark joy before the killjoy came along and ruined the fun

But, nine minutes into the event, a man came and spoke to Harry and Noah and asking questions, such as “Have you got a permit?”– to which the answer was no.

“And after that, he rang the police, which when we knew we had to leave,” Samantha said.

A purple dinosaur tried to cheer up the local community

“It was such a shame because the kids haven’t had much to do over the past 12 months, which is why we wanted to go out in the outfits.”

Samantha said the whole affair made her “so angry” she couldn’t sleep that evening.

“When I woke up on Sunday I said: that’s it I’m going back out.”