Parents were told to keep their children home and classrooms were evacuated after a bomb ‘hoax’ forced at least five schools to close today.
The schools in Southampton, Hampshire, had to shut after headteachers and police received ‘serious’ bomb threats.
Headteachers at some of the schools emailed parents first thing in the morning, telling them not to bring children, while some had to evacuate pupils.
Hampshire Constabulary confirmed five schools in the city were affected – Bitterne Park School, Banister Park School, Regents Park Community College, St Anne’s Catholic Girl’s Secondary School and St George’s Catholic High School for girls.
Bitterne Park headteacher Stewart Roderick sent parents a message which said: ‘We are just dealing with a site incident at school. Please do not send your child in to school until you have a further update from us.’
Bitterne Park with police a car outside this morning after reports of the bomb threat
Saint George Catholic College with a police car on the premises earlier today
James Habberley, headteacher at Saint George’s, told parents that at 8.15am, the school received a bomb threat via the school reception.
Mr Habberley told a reporter: ‘All the children were evacuated from the school building this morning to ensure they are safe and well.
‘Police have been here this morning doing a tour of the site and have confirmed the bomb threat is a hoax.
‘All of our students were kept in the shade, given water and access to the toilet. They will now be returning back to their normal lessons.’
A mother of two students at Saint George’s, one in year seven and one in year nine, said: ‘I received a text message from my son that said there had been a bomb threat at the school.
Regents Park Community College, one of the schools in Southampton to receive a bomb threat
Weston Secondary School with a police car outside this morning following the bomb threat to some schools in Southampton today
‘As any parent [would] I quickly got dressed and drove straight up here to make sure everything was okay.’
A Hampshire Constabulary spokeswoman said: ‘We can confirm that we were notified today of phone calls received by five schools in Southampton – Bitterne Park School, Banister Park School, Regents Park Community College, St Anne’s Catholic Girl’s Secondary School and St George’s Catholic High School for girls – which indicated a bomb threat.
‘At this time we are treating these calls as a hoax. We are working closely with the affected schools who are assisting us with enquiries.’
A sixth school was also reportedly affected. MailOnline has contacted Southampton City Council for comment.