A stock photo of a creepy evil vampire clown against a dark background.
Clowns are a big phobia in the UK – that’s no surprise (Picture: Getty Images)

We all have at least one irrational fear, whether it’s spiders lurking under the bed, the top of a skyscraper, or creepy clowns arriving with the circus.

But a new survey has revealed the UK’s top 20 phobias and some are just bizarre.

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Fear of clowns is the most common phobia, with 16% admitting to shuddering at the sight of the circus performers (thanks Stephen King).

But other entries like lumpy food, the Pope and pregnant women, proves the Brits are just a nation of scaredy-cats.

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Research ahead of the sixth series of the Walking Dead revealed that four in ten people admitted facing their fear makes them incredibly nervous and prevents them from joining in social events.

Psychologist and phobia specialist, Dr Becky Spellman, said most of us have at least one fear that fills us with dread.

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‘We call these fears ‘irrational’ because they are related to things or circumstances that, objectively, don’t pose us any threat at all.

‘One explanation is that we do live in a frightening world, and that every day we are all at risk – even if it is only a small risk – of experiencing something bad happening to us.’