Children who were evacuated from their primary school this morning due to a hoax bomb threat have been safely collected by parents.

Pupils from Gusford Primary School in Ipswich were moved to the school field at nearby Sprites Primary Academy at around 10.30am after a man called staff at Gusford and claimed there was a bomb on the premises.

At 12.55pm, a spokeswoman for Suffolk Constabulary said: “Searches were carried out and nothing has been found.

“The incident is being treated as a bomb hoax and is being investigated by police.”

An email was sent to parents of pupils at Gusford Primary School at around noon asking them to collect their children from Sprites Primary Academy.

The email read: “The pupils will be arranged in classes on the field and you will need to stand by your child’s class and the teacher will sign your child out to you. Please remain calm so as not to upset any other pupils.”

Parents have praised the school staff for their “quick” and “efficient” response to the bomb scare.

Nathan Collins, whose five-year-old son attends the school, said: “It was really well organised, well done to all the teachers and staff at Gusford, they did a great job making sure the children were safe and evacuating quickly and efficiently.”

Gusford Primary School is one of at least 18 schools across the UK that has been forced to evacuate today after bomb threats, according to reports.