A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of a bomb hoax at a Bristol college.
The 17-year-old was taken into custody after police raced to St Brendan’s Sixth Form College on Broomhill Road, Bristol, in response to a ‘possible risk’ of an explosive device on Tuesday just after 3pm.
Upon arrival at the college, officers identified the teenager and arrested him.
A CCTV review was completed and the decision was made to conduct a precautionary evacuation of the college.
All students and staff were safely escorted off the site while specialist search officers and dogs carried out a thorough comb-through of the campus.
They focused on the areas identified on CCTV where the suspect had been, and there was no evidence of an explosive device having ever been brought onto the site.
Temporary Neighbourhood Chief Inspector Rich Fear said: ‘When responding to incidents of this nature, we treat them with the utmost seriousness and attended promptly to ensure public safety.
‘On this occasion, we are pleased to confirm that the threat was not credible and there was never a bomb on college grounds.
‘We can also confirm that no one has sustained any injuries.
‘The call from the member of staff reporting the incident was with good intent and the right thing to do, given the information they had received.
‘We would like to thank the staff and students for their patience and understanding while we responded to this incident.
‘Enquiries are ongoing and we will continue to engage with the college throughout.’
The 17-year-old was taken into custody after police raced to St Brendan’s Sixth Form College (pictured) on Broomhill Road, Bristol, in response to a ‘possible risk’ on Tuesday just after 3pm
The police response at the school stood down just after 5.30pm.
The road in Bristol was earlier closed in both directions as police carried out investigations into the incident.
Roads and traffic monitoring website, Inrix, said: ‘Broomhill Road in both directions closed, queueing traffic due to police incident from Emery Road to Dixon Road.’
Images and footage from the scene showed several police vehicles entering and exiting the college, with officers swarming the area.
One witness whose son attends St Brendan’s told BristolLive there were ‘lots of police dogs in the area’.
They said their son was ‘told at 3.50pm by a teacher to leave as he did so police were entering the college’.
The school also emailed parents following the tense ordeal.
They said in an email: ‘We want to inform you that the college recently received information regarding a possible risk to our community.
‘As soon as we became aware of this information, we took swift and appropriate action in line with our safeguarding procedures.
‘This included releasing students and staff from college as a precautionary measure.’
They added: ‘At this time, there is no ongoing risk, and we are working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure the continued safety of our community.’
