A SCHOOL was evacuated yesterday (Wednesday) because a teenager threatened to bring in a gun and shoot a pupil in a row over a girl. Every pupil at Samuel Whitbread Community College in Clifton was sent home after a 17-year-old youth allegedly made the gun t

A SCHOOL was evacuated yesterday (Wednesday) because a teenager threatened to bring in a gun and shoot a pupil in a row over a girl.

Every pupil at Samuel Whitbread Community College in Clifton was sent home after a 17-year-old youth allegedly made the gun threat.

The school told pupils and The Comet that they were being sent home because of a burst water pipe.

A Bedfordshire County Council spokesman said the decision to send pupils home and not tell them about the gun threat was to "prevent mass hysteria from pupils and allow an orderly evacuation of the school."

Headteacher Rob Robson said: "Students were sent home early (1.30pm), following advice from the police.

"Students at the school had reported concerns about an alleged specific verbal threat made to one of them by an individual who has no connection to the college and who does not live in the locality. This individual was subsequently arrested, taken into custody and questioned by the police.

"The closure was a precautionary measure. The college's primary concern is always the safety of students and staff, and this isolated incident was dealt with swiftly and efficiently. At no point was any student at the school in danger."

It is understood the pupils were told in assembly this morning about the gun threat and that Bedfordshire Police last night interviewed a boy in connection with the incident.

* The incident came on the day a teenage gunman went on a shooting spree in Germany that started in his former school and ended with the loss of 16 lives.