HOW old is too old to trick-or-treat? I say that if you’re old enough to shave, you’re too old.

Old enough to drive? Too old.

Taller than I am? Too old.

Most of us have some inner clock that tells us when it’s time to stop parading around the streets in fangs or witches’ hats, knocking on strangers’ doors and begging for fun size Mars bars.

It’s like sucking your thumb or doodling your boyfriend’s name in hearts or having soft toys strewn on the bed. At some point, you just know it’s time to let go.

I love the fact that most of us can sniff at society’s age taboos – believing that you’re never too old to fall in love, read Winnie the Pooh, go skydiving – or hey, even be a judge on Strictly Come Dancing.

But there simply is a time when you are too old to be roaming around in the dark with a pillowcase and extorting strangers on behalf of Haribo.

But then, Halloween – once a low-key festival for little ones in this country – has ballooned into a commercial frenzy where costumes, parties and pranks have no age limit.

According to Sainsbury’s, sales of adult costumes have rocketed more than 100 per cent this year, as millions of parents get on the fright-night bandwagon.

Devil woman outfits are popular, with half of mums planning to dress up to give dads a treat.

This ritual comes from across the pond where, increasingly, women are using the festival to dress provocatively rather than in traditional scary outfits.

Such is the fang-tastic furore that bunny ears, broomsticks and horror masks are all expected to sell at the rate of five a minute at the supermarket chain before tomorrow night – together with half a million pumpkins.

Morrisons reports that sales increase by around 40 per cent in the week before Halloween as adults and children alike rush to get their “essential items”.

Asda is aiming to top Halloween sales for the third year in a row, and is determined to see off rivals with an in-store “Halloween party atmosphere”.

Their display even has segmentation blinkers to separate products for children and adults.

A spokeswoman for Asda said: “The creative is in line with today’s Halloween where adults can have as much fun as kids.”

All well and good in the comfort of your own home, but when young adults in gangs knock on people’s doors begging at this time of year, I can think of a few creative ideas of my own to sort them out.