A HAMPSHIRE school has sent out warning letters after an unconfirmed sighting of a sex offender on the run.

Ranvilles Junior School in Fareham issued the letters after a parent reported seeing Stephen Munden in Greyshott Avenue, Fareham.

Munden, 54, has been at large since Tuesday when he escaped from Mildmay Oaks independent hospital in Winchfield, near Hook, prompting a widescale police search involving helicopters.

He was ordered to be detained in a hospital after a judge heard how after he targeted a toddler on a bus.

In the letter, Ranvilles headteacher Angela Williams said police had not confirmed Munden was in the area but had advised locals to be vigilant.

She said: “Although we have had no directive from Hampshire Police or Hampshire County Council to send out an alert we feel we should notify you for the safety of our children.”

She also said the school would be running ‘stranger danger’ lessons for children today.

The unconfirmed sighting has shocked the local community.

Alison Alexander, 43, recruitment coordinator, of Scaffel Avenue, Fareham, said: “It's alarming if he has been spotted near a school and hopefully he will be found soon. I was amazed to hear that he had escaped from a secure unit. I live nearby where the 'sighting' was, which is quite worrying.”

Hayley Baker, 29, hairdresser, of Laburnum Road, Fareham, has two children, with one attending Redlands Primary School.

“I've been worrying about it,” she said.

“I had a text from the school yesterday saying they had spoken to the kids about stranger danger in assembly.”