POLICE are investigating after a ten-year-old boy produced a knife in front of other children at a Hampshire junior school.

Officers say the knife was “visible” to fellow pupils but are refusing to discuss claims that one of them was threatened with the blade.

The shocking incident occurred at Abbotswood Junior School in Totton.

Last night mums voiced their anger and dismay after it emerged that the youngster had taken a Swiss army knife to the school.

They claimed that some parents had kept their children away from Abbotswood amid fears for the youngsters' safety.

One mum, who did not want to be named, said: “A pupil threatened another pupil with a flip knife in the school grounds.

“A few parents are worried and have not sent their children to school today.

“We all think parents should be made aware of this via a letter but they are keeping it quiet.

“What was this child doing with a knife, even taking it to school? Our children need to be made aware of the dangers of weapons.”

Another mum said the boy had not returned to school since the incident, which occurred before lessons started.

She added: “I was horrified when I heard what had happened.”

Totton town and district councillor Di Brooks is a former chairman of governors at Abbotswood.

She said: “It's horrific that something like this can happen at a junior school. You hear about inner city secondary schools being equipped with metal scanners but someone of this age carrying a knife is very worrying.”

Totton county councillor David Harrison added: “This sounds like a very serious and unusual incident.

“It's something that should never happen anywhere, let alone in a school environment.”

Head teacher Glenn Moore refused to speak directly to the Daily Echo, initially referring all inquiries to Hampshire County Council.

Later he issued a brief statement that made no mention of the incident.

The statement said: “The safety of children in our school is of the utmost importance and we take every step possible to ensure they are secure and well cared for.

“While we are not able to discuss individual cases when incidents occur on school premises they are thoroughly investigated and dealt with appropriately.

“With teachers and support staff working to very clear and comprehensive guidance that includes child protection, anti-bullying and positive behaviour policies the school is able to respond quickly and take appropriate action when required.”

A police spokesman that a ten-year-old boy had been spoken to after taking a Swiss army knife to school, adding: “The local Safer Neighbourhoods Team hope to continue to work with the school to help prevent similar incidents of this nature in the future.”

Cllr Peter Edgar, the county council's executive member for education, said: “Any incident which potentially compromises the safety of a child is taken extremely seriously, and follow up action is taken immediately to ensure firstly that children are safe, and secondly that if appropriate, any wider ramifications are discussed with the wider school population.”

Knives in schools

METAL detecting wands were issued to every school in Southampton in a bid to curb knife crime.

All primary and secondary schools in the city have the hand-held devices, which can be used to check pupils are not carrying weapons. They can be swiped over a person's clothing and set off an alarm if metal is detected.

Head teachers are not obliged to use them but can do so if they suspect a child is carrying a knife.

They were issued in 2008 in an attempt to wipe out knife-related crime under the police and Daily Echo-backed campaign called Operation Sharp.

The Echo's awareness drive called "Carrying a blade - it's not sharp" was launched the previous year following several knife-related deaths in the city.