Man told to stop wearing bunny suit

Police in Idaho Falls have told a man to stop wearing a bunny suit in public after people complained he has been frightening children.

Residents in the northwestern U.S. city of 54,000 people also reported William Falkingham, 34, occasionally wears a tutu with the bunny suit, police said in a statement on Tuesday.

Police warned Falkingham after a woman said she saw him dressed in the costume, peeking at her young son from behind a tree and pointing his finger like a gun.

While a police report said other residents were "greatly disturbed" by his activities, one neighbour defended Falkingham as eccentric but otherwise harmless.

"He's got the bunny outfit, a cowboy suit and a ballerina dress but you don't see him except where he's tripping through his backyard," Deborah Colson told Reuters. "He's got a strange lifestyle at home but we all do weird things at home."

Falkingham told officers he "enjoys wearing the suit" but understands the concerns and that he could be cited as a public nuisance, police spokeswoman Joelyn Hansen said.