LONDON - The scary clowns craze may just have gone too far.

A freshman in London faces possible expulsion after carrying out a nasty clown prank on campus, the Daily Mail reported on Tuesday (Oct 11).

The prankster, known only as Kenny, chased other students through the Brunel University campus in London, dressed as a clown but armed with a chainsaw.

The 19-year-old was doing it as a stunt for his YouTube channel.

Kenny was filmed walking through the campus, dressed a gold costume, red wig and clown mask,before charging at a group of apparent victims.

The latter were his friends who were in on the prank, but others on campus did not know this, according to the Daily Mail. Bystanders were confused and startled by the spectacle.

A student recorded Kenny's act from inside her hall residence and posted it on her Twitter account, saying it was "not cool". In her viral video, it is not clear that the scene was staged.

Kenny, a media studies student, apologised for the prank and is now worried about his university status.

"I'm really nervous. I don't know what is going to happen. It's such a mess," he told the Daily Mail.

Kenny explained that he used the chainsaw for the "shock factor". His Youtube channel has 1,500 followers.

He also told the Daily Mail he made the clown video to "follow the trend". He lamented: "But the internet has just blown this way out of proportion. It's like,'oh wow, there's a killer clown at Brunel'. People are making me out to be a terrorist."

A Brunel university spokesman said: "The student who was dressed as a clown and carrying a chainsaw was caught on a number of our 400 CCTV cameras and has since identified himself to our campus security team. We take such incidents, and our students' safety, extremely seriously and the student will now be passed on to the police."

In a separate incident in Whitwick, Leicestershire, ITV news reported that a woman was shocked into early labour after a teenager dressed as a clown jumped out in front of her.

Her friend's post on Facebook about the incident was shared hundreds of times, and led to calls for the teenager to be apprehended, according to ITV news.

Police in the UK have warned potential offenders that they could be committing a public order offence with such pranks.