Hundreds of parents have rushed to the gates of a school in Hartlepool after being told to collect their children.

It’s understood that Manor Community Academy, on Owton Manor Lane, has been put on lockdown this afternoon, with witnesses reporting children “crying”.

Alarms can be heard sounding after classrooms were locked around 11.15am, said one pupil. One staff member was said to have been injured in the incident, Teesside Live reports.

Parents are being told they must come to school collect their children. One witness says: “There are kids crying and everything. It’s really bad.”

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