A Saltash secondary school has explained why it sent parents a text informing them the school had been locked down.

Parents of children at the school recieved a text this morning saying: "Saltash Community School is currently in lockdown. Please do not come to school or call the school. We will contact you again as soon as possible. Thank you.", leaving parents worried.

Speculation on parents' groups that it was a drill proved to be unfounded, with Devon and Cornwall Police confirming that they had been contacted by the school after receiving a threat, later determined to be a hoax. While investigations took place, children were said to be locked down in their classrooms.

Parents later received an update from the school confirming the lockdown was over.

Now, a spokesperson for the school has added more detail. In a message to parents explaining what happened, they said: "We wanted to provide further information following this morning's lockdown in school, which you were advised of by text.

"We received a bomb threat via a telephone message left on our school system this morning. Following our procedures we locked down immediately and contacted the police. They attended and have undertaken a search, following the information received. They believe the call to have been a hoax and have given us the all-clear to operate as normal.

"Whilst we appreciate that this was upsetting for many of our children and concerning for our parents, we had to take immediate action in the face of a possible threat. In the absence of information which might have identified the exact location of the possible threat, it is safer to ask students and staff to remain in their current locations. This reduces the risk of anyone within our school population moving towards any potential danger.

"In line with our procedures and in order to manage the external communication around incidents such as this, children are not allowed to use their phones. This allows the school to deal with all communication including our alerts to you about such incidents and prevents false information from being released. While we are managing a serious situation we are not allowed to provide further information to our community, as we await further instruction from the police.

"Please be assured every decision we make is to ensure the safety of your children. Thank you for your support."

A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police said: "Police were contacted by Saltash Community School this morning after a threat was called into the school.

"A unit attended and following enquiries at the scene, Police are content that this was a hoax call."