A St Austell college and primary school went into lockdown this afternoon while police searched the vicinity for a suspect carrying a “bladed weapon”.
Police were called at 12.20pm on Monday to Poltair Court, St Austell, following a report that a man had assaulted a woman. It was further reported that he had been in possession of a suspected bladed weapon.
The man left the area prior to police arrival and officers attended to carry out a search. A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed a 29-year-old man from St Austell was arrested in connection to the incident and taken into police custody.
Simon Pollard, Executive Head Teacher at Cornwall Education Learning Trust (CELT), confirmed that Carclaze primary school closed temporarily during the incident.
"I can confirm that following the direction of the police and the nature of the incident they were dealing with, we did lockdown for some of the afternoon," he said.
"We followed our procedures and were able to release the children safely at the end of the day when the police gave us the all clear."
Cornwall College St Austell posted on its Facebook page: “We are aware of an ongoing incident in St Austell. As a precaution, Cornwall College St Austell has gone into partial lockdown to ensure the safety of our students and staff.
“Like other schools in the area, we are in contact with the police about the situation. We will provide updates, when we have them, here on the Cornwall College Facebook page.”
The lockdown was confirmed to have been lifted at 3:04pm on the grounds that police had arrested a suspect.
The police spokesperson said there was "no direction from police" in relation to schools taking lockdown measures.
Matt Trevivian, sector inspector for Devon and Cornwall Police, said: “Understandably a significant police presence will cause concern in the community but I can reassure you that there is no wider threat to the public and this is being treated as an isolated incident.
“We are not currently seeking anyone else in relation to this incident.”