It's five years ago this week since a Buckhurst Hill pub banned Halloween fancy dress because the owner wanted it to be free of "gimmicks".

Killer clowns, superheroes and grisly zombies will flood venues for Halloween this weekend – but not one “traditional” Buckhurst Hill pub, where fancy dress has been banned.

With the spookiest day of the year falling on Monday many people are likely to celebrate early on Friday or Saturday, but The Three Colts in Princes Road has been declared a “Halloween-free zone”.

Messages on Twitter say no fancy dress is allowed and that the pub will be doing “absolutely nothing” for the event.

Owner Adam Brooks explained, saying: “I think it’s something for the kids, not for grown adults, so I want to provide a place where there are no costumes, no promotion of Halloween, no gimmicks.”

“It is a pub to go and have a drink, catch up and socialise without the gimmicks that modern pubs seem to do.”