A junior school was evacuated after a child brought in a historic explosive device to a show and tell.

There were dramatic scenes at Orchard Junior School in Dibden Purlieu, as police were called out at 1.30pm after the item was presented to the class.

An email sent to parents by the school described the object as a 'historic incendiary device'.

A police spokesman said: "The school was calmly evacuated and a disposal team attended to take the item away to be destroyed as a precaution."

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Laura Holloway, who has a child at the school, said she found out what happened when she received a text from the school saying: "Schools are being closed & evacuated - please collect your child from Noadswood field ASAP."

Laura, who was at work at the time, said: "It was so worrying."

She spent the 20-minute drive with her brain on 'overdrive' and 'shaking'.

She said: "Another parent had called saying there were police everywhere. I knew my youngest would have been so scared."

But, she added: "Both schools seemed to deal with it all very well and had the kids lined up and checked off - it must have been very upsetting for everyone involved."

Another resident 40, who lives nearby, said friends who have children at the school came to her house after the evacuation - and told her pupils were “crying and so scared".

She said: “It’s not the usual fire drill, not like taking your time to get to the door; it was a bit of an actual panic to get out of the building.”

According to the resident, parents were told to come early and pick their children up from Noadswood School, the secondary school nearby.

“It was all quite rushed," she claimed.

“A lot of the older children walk home by themselves, but they were told that they weren’t allowed to today after this, so that caused trouble for a lot of parents who weren’t ready for that.”

The school has also spoken out about what happened.

A spokesperson said in a statement to the Echo: “The police attended the school today after a possible unexploded ordnance was brought into school for the purposes of show and tell.

"All necessary processes were followed by the school in relation to this matter, and the safety of all pupils and staff was maintained throughout.

"The device has since been removed from the school site.”

The email to parents also thanked 'the children, staff and families for their quick response this afternoon with our evacuation of the school'.

The police's full statement said: "We were called at about 1.30pm to a report that a child had brought what may have been a potentially unexploded ordnance to Orchard Junior School.

"The school was calmly evacuated and a disposal team attended to take the item away to be destroyed as a precaution."

  • Have you or your child been affected by today's incident? Contact us via Facebook, by calling 023 8042 4777 or by emailing newsdesk@dailyecho.co.uk