Cornwall secondary school closed after malicious security threat

Launceston College
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


A secondary school in Launceston has closed its doors to all students this morning, Thursday, September 26, following a security alert. All students were told to stay at home today as the school felt that it could not guarantee their safety, a spokesperson has confirmed.

A notice was posted on the Launceston College website early on Thursday morning, addressed to all parents and carers, announcing that the school was closing for the day. The initial explanation given was "health and safety reasons".

Now, the school has confirmed that the closure was in response to a security threat received on Wednesday evening. Devon and Cornwall Police were called in to ensure the premises was safe but the threat turned out to be a hoax. Tonight's open evening will take place as planned.

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A statement from the college on Thursday lunchtime read: "Closing the school is a decision that is never made lightly, and we fully recognise the impact on students and their families. However, late on Wednesday evening, we received what turned out to be a hoax security threat which we acted on immediately.

"Having liaised with the police, we took the precaution of closing, as we could not guarantee the safety of our students until police checks had been carried out on site this morning. These have now been completed, and police have confirmed that the site is secure and safe.

"Unfortunately, it was not possible for this to be completed ahead of the school day starting. However, I want to express my gratitude to the police for their swift response and support. I believe it is only right that we took this matter extremely seriously, and we will be supporting the police with any further investigations into the background of the hoax threat.

"The safety and wellbeing of our students and staff will always be our top priority, and I hope the community will understand the decision we took.

"For today, students will be studying from home on a virtual timetable, and we look forward to welcoming them back following the planned inset day tomorrow. The open evening tonight (26th September) will still go ahead from 5pm."

Launceston College students will be expected to work through their lessons as normal in line with an online timetable today, available through the school website. Devon and Cornwall Police have been contacted for comment about the incident.