Clown craze is dangerous: Vic police chief

Eighteen creepy clown incidents have been reported to Victoria Police and the state's top cop warns the craze will have "dangerous consequences".

Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton says the cases over the past few weeks include a serious incident in Moe when a 23-year-old man with an axe tapped on the window of a woman's car in a McDonald's drive-through.

"It's something that will have dangerous consequences because someone will hurt themselves trying to flee, or else some pretend clown is going to end up on the wrong side of someone fighting (back)," Mr Ashton told ABC radio on Thursday. "Either way it won't be a good outcome."