PUPILS at an Old Town primary school were kept inside at lunchtime yesterday after they were the target of a malicious call threatening their safety.

Staff at Lethbridge Primary School received the call during the morning and immediately notified the police.

Officers responded and carried out an assessment of the threat – the children were kept inside the school building during their lunch break as a precautionary measure.

Violet McLaren, Headteacher at Lethbridge Primary, said: “We got a hoax call yesterday morning.

“We have our emergency procedures and depending on the nature of the call we either evacuate or go into lockdown – in this case we went into lockdown until we got the all-clear.

“The children weren’t aware of what was going on and they did get to go outside once the all-clear was given.”

The school informed parents later in the day via their email system.

The message read: “Your child might mention that they were kept inside at lunchtime today.

“This is because the school received a phone-call this morning that required a police call-out.

“Following a reassurance patrol, it was confirmed that the phone-call was a hoax and we were given the all-clear.”

Over 25 schools across the country received similar calls during the day yesterday, a number of them chose to evacuate children in response.

While the exact nature of the call to Lethbridge Primary has not been disclosed, reports nationally suggest that some calls involved a recorded message of an American voice looped a number of times.

The calls are reported to have included warnings of explosions at the schools, beheadings and other threats to pupils and staff. 

None of the threats proved to be genuine.

Yesterday’s events are reminiscent of a similar series of hoax threats made to schools and universities across the UK in 2012.

On that occasion, Lydiard Millicent Primary School in Swindon and two other schools in Wiltshire were targeted.

The origin of those calls was never established.

Making hoax threats of this type is a serious criminal offence – in the most aggravated cases, notably where there has been great financial or emotional impact, it can attract a sentence of up to seven years imprisonment.

A spokesperson for Wiltshire Police said: “We can confirm that officers are investigating a malicious hoax call relating to a school in Swindon that was made on the morning of Monday, May 23.

“There is nothing to suggest that the incident is terrorist related and enquiries continue.

“We are working with other forces to establish the facts and uncover any national links.”

Anyone with information about the hoax calls should call the police non-emergency line on 101 or alternatively they can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.