Holme Slack Community Primary School in Preston issues statement after man spotted brandishing a machete outside

What happened?

A man was spotted “brandishing a machete” on Manor House Lane, outside Holme Slack Community Primary School, on Wednesday (September 21.)

Police said the incident happened at around 8.50am, as the children were arriving at school.

A public appeal was subsequently launched by Lancashire Police, with anyone with information urged to come forward.

What have the school said?

Headteacher of Holme Slack Community Primary School, Mrs Peck said: “We are aware of an incident that happened yesterday, Wednesday 21st September 2022, on Manor House Lane that was not connected to school. We know this incident was reported to the police, who are now investigating. We have strict safety policies on site and once alerted to the incident on the road around school, we swiftly put our policy into action to keep all of our children and school community safe.

“Please be assured safety is a key priority for us and we will endeavour to keep our school community safe at all times.”

What did the police say?

A spokesperson for Preston Police said: “We are appealing for any information regarding this incident in particular anybody that may have been in the area at that time this incident and witnessed anything suspicious, or if you have any CCTV or dash cam footage then please get in touch.

"You can contact the officer in the case on [email protected] quoting log number LC-20220921-0252

"You can also report it on our non- emergency number of 101 or by using the ‘report it online’ tool on our website.

"Thanks again for your assistance.”