All we know as Southampton schools evacuated over bomb hoax

Police are hunting for the person responsible for the fake threats, left either on voicemails or through phone calls to six schools in the city on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning.

Officers searched Bitterne Park School, Banister Park School, Regents Park Community College, St Anne’s Catholic Girl’s Secondary School, Saint George Catholic College and Weston Secondary School for evidence of a bomb - but none was found.

Staff at Bitterne Park School in Didmond Road were sent home and headteacher Stewart Roderick warned parents early yesterday morning not to bring their children in as police scoped the premises.

Police at Saint Georges Catholic College (Image: NQ)

Over at Saint George Catholic College in Leaside Way, Swaythling, the bomb threat was made to the school reception at 8.15am.

According to headteacher James Habberley, they immediately contacted the police and evacuated the building.

READ MORE: Southampton schools closed or evacuated due to bomb hoax

On one of the hottest days of the year, students who had already arrived were evacuated on the back field while waiting for further advice from police.

Speaking to the Echo, Mr Habberley said yesterday morning: "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."

Reacting to what had happened at the school gates, one parent said: "The email sent round to parents this morning was more worrying than anything else.

"I think it would be better if the school sent the students back home."

The mother of two students at Saint George - one in year seven and one in year nine - added: "I received a text message from my son that said there had been a bomb threat at the school.

"As any parent I quickly got dressed and drove straight up here to make sure everything was okay."

She added: "I’m glad everything is okay now and the students are back to normal."

Weston students evacuated to Chamberlayne Leisure Centre (Image: NQ) Staff at Weston Secondary School took the decision to evacuate and have parents collect their children from the nearby Chamberlayne Leisure Centre before shutting the school for the rest of the day.

David Butterworth, headteacher of Weston Secondary School, told the Echo it was a 'serious threat', adding: "The students have been evacuated safely and calmly.

"Ninety five per cent of the students have now been collected by parents.

"I would like to say a big thank you to the bus service who have been fantastic. They have offered all of our students a free bus service."

Police said they were 'working closely with the affected schools who are assisting us with enquiries'.

City council statement in full

A city council statement said: "A number of schools received bomb threats overnight or early in the school day.

"The police conducted a thorough search at each location with no evidence found.

"Most schools were able to return to normality quickly.

"Only two schools have remained closed for the day, in order to prevent the students experiencing further disruption.

"The schools reverted to online learning to ensure students do not fall behind in their education.

"Each school responded to the advice provided by the Police at the time of reporting the incident.

"The schools affected are Bitterne Park School, Banister School, Regents Park Community College, St Anne’s Catholic School, Weston Secondary School and Saint George Catholic College.

"The Police are treating these calls as a hoax but are working closely with the affected schools who are assisting them with their enquiries.

"We’d like to thank the schools involved for the calm and efficient way they handled this situation.”