A circus touring Britain has launched a unique "clownselling" service aimed at overcoming peoples' fears associated with its show's starring duo, a spokesperson told NewsCore on Wednesday.

The free workshops allow those suffering from Coulrophobia -- the fear of clowns, rated as Britain's third biggest phobia behind spiders and needles in a recent poll -- to confront their feelings and even access their own "inner clown."

Paul Carpenter, who runs the sessions along with his fellow clown partner and the ringmaster at John Lawson’s Circus, explained that it was adults rather than children who were in need of the therapy.

"Many of them have a preconceived idea of clowns as knife-wielding psychos and they're petrified, very frightened," he said.

"This is partly to do with the role of clowns in horror movies like Stephen King's 'It.' We want to counter the negative image associated with clowns and show them it's just an act."