A school in Powys, Wales, was placed under lockdown conditions earlier today after a man was seen with what appeared to be a “bladed article”, that turned out to be an unspecified garden tool.
The incident occurred at the Llandrindod Wells campus of Ysgol Calon Cymru this afternoon at about 4pm as students were leaving the site for the day.
The local council said police had requested the lockdown for the safety of students, and the school informed parents pupils would be released when safe to do so.
Dyfed Powys Police confirmed the lockdown is now over and pupils have all left the school safely.
A spokesman for the force said: “Dyfed Powys Police received a report of concerns raised for a male, seen with what appeared to be a bladed article, on Dyffryn Road, Llandrindod Wells, heading towards High Street, at approximately 3pm today (March 17).
“Several officers were deployed to the area, and as a precautionary measure, due to the proximity, Ysgol Calon Cymru was placed in lockdown.
“Within 40 minutes, the male was identified and it was established that the item was a garden tool, which is now secure in a shed.
“No threats were made to the school. The pupils have all left the school”.
The Llandrindod Wells campus of Ysgol Calon Cymru was placed under lockdown | GOOGLE MAPS
A Powys Council spokesman added: “The council were made aware that the Llandrindod campus of Ysgol Calon Cymru has gone into lockdown due to an incident outside the boundaries of the school. The police requested a lockdown”.
The fears over student safety likely came following a slew of stabbings and reported knifemen striking outside schools across Britain in recent weeks.
One incident saw a 15-year-old boy charged with attempted murder and carrying a knife on school grounds following an attack on a teenage girl at a secondary school near Norwich.
The stabbing occurred at Thorpe St Andrew School on Laundry Lane, where saff quickly placed pupils in lockdown within their classrooms.
In a separate incident, a 13-year-old boy who allegedly stabbed two boys in the neck and squirted another with insect spray in a school attack faces an Old Bailey trial this autumn.
The child, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, is accused of launching an attack in front of numerous children and a teacher at Kingsbury High School in Brent, north-west London, on February 10.
Prosecutor Ben Lloyd said the defendant had set out by arming himself with an aerosol of insect spray and positioning his mobile phone in the blazer pocket of his jacket to record events.