Malicious email sent to Cheshire and Greater Manchester schools - police

The forces said officers were providing reassurance and doing "everything we can" to locate the person responsible

A number of "malicious" emails have been sent to schools in Cheshire and Greater Manchester, police have said.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and Cheshire Police said a number of schools reported malicious communications at about 10:00 BST.

They said emails making threats had been sent to sites in Manchester, Chester and Ellesmere Port.

The forces said officers were providing reassurance and doing "everything we can" to locate the person responsible.

A Cheshire Police representative said officers were told about the email, which was sent to a number of schools and made threats against pupils and staff, at about 10:00 BST

Cheshire's Det Ch Insp Justin Hancock said the correspondence was "believed to be malicious and we are doing everything we can to locate the person responsible".

GMP's Ch Insp Chris Boyd added that the force took such reports "very seriously" and officers had stepped up their presence around schools at the end of the day to "provide reassurance".

Lache Primary School in Chester, which received the email, said on Facebook that it went into lockdown as a precautionary measure over what was "believed to be a malicious hoax".

The school added that after speaking to police, it released children as normal at the end of the day, but did so "in a staggered and controlled way for everyone's safety".

Police forces in neighbouring Lancashire and Merseyside said they have not been made aware of any such emails.