Two costumed pals who went to Bluewater intent on some “light-hearted fun” say they were made to leave as they were not “suitably” dressed.
Comedy actors Chris Cole and Paul Fox allege eight security officers swiftly stopped their shopping trip and forced them out of the Greenhithe mall when they turned up in devil and vampire attire.
But the shopping centre has hit back at the pair’s claims, instead saying the men were “escorted” off the premises as their behaviour was “not in line with its code of conduct for guests”.
Police were also called following reports they were “causing concern to members of the public” and provided the pair with “words of advice”.
However, the comedic duo, from Gravesend, say they had only dressed in their self-created characters, Deville and Nostrils, in a bid to bring some light-hearted fun on Saturday evening.
Chris, a veteran of the Ukraine war, said: “We’re entertainer actors, we’re not out to scare people – it’s an interaction thing.”
The friends had planned to go to City Wall Wine Bar in Rochester to collect money for charity that evening.
But, they decided to make a stop at Bluewater before, and headed to do some shopping around 4pm having claimed to have alerted a police “control room” the day prior.
The 57-year-old added: “Although we look really scary, children really love us because children now are not frightened by Halloween.
“Halloween is a big thing, they all go out and dress up so seeing two others looking terrible is pretty normal.”
But shortly after parking and entering M&S, they were approached by shopping centre security guards who began questioning and later following them through the shop.
“We didn’t get very far and then they stopped us and said ‘you’ve got to leave’,” said Chris.
Footage filmed by the pair at the scene shows an officer telling them his “control room have deemed it not really suitable” for the “family shopping centre”.
The security worker is seen being quizzed by the duo on what the “problem” is, to which he replies “there isn’t one” before calmly relaying the initial instruction from his bosses for them to leave.
But Chris added: “If it was dark, low light and we were jumping out from behind columns I would understand but we had only been in their minutes.”
He says that he and Paul did not interact with shoppers unless they approached them first and do not scare children but may perform for those older.
“Nostrils [Paul] with his Transylvanian accent comes across a little goofy and funny but he is very polite and gentlemanly,” he explained.
“Whereas I, being the devil, am more naughty so I always say to the children ‘is your room tidy?’ and they say ‘yes’ and then I’ll go ‘well that’s not good, it needs to be untidy!’
“But the best bit of all is Mr Jobsworth said ‘we can’t have you here, you’re scaring the children’ and at that point two little girls tugged on my coat and said ‘Happy Halloween’ and it could not have come at a better time – the kids were all doing that.”
The pair said their comedy is to bring some light-hearted fun to people and hope to continue playing characters in the future.
Police confirmed their attendance at around 4pm on Saturday (November 2).
A spokeswoman for the force said: “Kent Police was called to a report of two people dressed in Halloween outfits who were causing concern to members of the public inside Bluewater, Greenhithe.
“Officers attended and spoke to the two individuals and provided them with words of advice.”
A spokesperson for the mall said: “On Saturday, two guests were escorted out of Bluewater by Kent Police and our security team as their behaviour was not in line with our code of conduct for guests visiting the centre.”
