Armed police guard children on school run

Children returned to school in Rothbury this morning under the eyes of armed police as their village remained on security lockdown.

Nervous pupils walked past marksmen with sub-machineguns guarding the Dr Thomlinson Church of England Middle School as teachers were ordered to keep doors and windows locked.

Children in the village were kept inside their classrooms yesterday as police investigated several sightings of gunman Raoul Moat in the vicinity.

They were reunited with their parents only after several hours as a two-mile exclusion zone went up around the remote community.

More children, from Tanfield Lea Community Primary School, near Stanley, County Durham, on a field trip to Rothbury, were held in a National Trust building. Sources said they had been told their coach had broken down to avoid frightening them.