October 2, 2019 7.07 am This story is over 53 months old

School evacuates children after fake flood alert

Nearly 400 children were sent home
Boston Pioneers evacuated pupils. Photo: The McAvoy Group

A school in Boston evacuated pupils after it was contacted by someone claiming to be from the Environment Agency.

Boston Pioneers put out an urgent message on social media asking parents to collect their children as soon as possible.

The headteacher said she called the number she was given in an email, claiming to be from the Environment Agency.

The Environment Agency later said the email and call to evacuate did not come from them.

Almost all of the 420 pupils had been sent home before the community safety visited the school and told the staff something was wrong.

Jo Bland told Lincolnshire Reporter: “At the end of the day the safety of our children is our utmost priority. We just acted on the information we had.

“You have to understand that our old premises was flooded the last time we had these flood warnings in place. This just shows that our flood plan works.”

The school said it was now working with the Environment Agency to clarify what happened.

A view of the River Witham from Haven Bridge on Tuesday morning. Photo: Mel Ruck

As previously reported, a tidal surge brought on by stormy conditions has passed in Boston on Tuesday morning without too much disruption.

Since then Boston’s flood warning has been lifted and downgraded to a flood alert.

The Environment Agency said that any decisions to evacuate would be issued by the Local Resilience Forum.

A spokesperson said: “We continue to monitor weather, tidal and river conditions across the county and, to confirm, we lifted the tidal flood warning for Boston this afternoon.

“Flood alerts are still in place for the River Witham, Haven and wash frontage, and the lower River Witham, which means be prepared.

“There is no imminent threat to the community or to Boston Pioneers Academy and with the school, we are looking into the circumstances which led to the evacuation.”