Thursday, March 28Royal Holloway's offical student publication, est. 1986

Suspected ‘Bomb Scare’ at School in Egham

Zara Gillick reports on the recent suspected ‘bomb scare’ at Magna Carta School, Egham.

Just before 4pm on Friday 27th February 2017, Surrey Police and a bomb disposal team were called to the Magna Carta School in Egham when concerns were raised over an ‘item confiscated from a student’.

Staff at the school called the 101 non-emergency number about the object in the afternoon before the police arrived at the school and then contacted the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team, who came shortly after.

A message was put out on the School’s Facebook page reassuring parents, students and staff, stating that although it was a ‘false alarm’, it was dealt with ‘in accordance to school emergency procedures’.

Angela Jenkins, the school’s business manager, confirmed ‘we went through our usual procedures and reported it to police’ who then decided they would attend the scene to investigate.

She added that ‘at no time was anyone at risk. At first the police were going to take it away but then they decided to call the bomb disposal team’.

As a result of the incident the school are now conducting their own investigation looking into way in which such scares can be prevented in the future.

A Surrey Police spokesperson released a statement claiming that the ‘Police, as well as the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team attended and the item was found to be harmless’.

The school will be speaking to the student concerned and hope that no events of a similar nature will occur in the future.