School to reopen after 27-hour house siege arrest

A village school is due to reopen after it was forced to evacuate during a 27-hour siege at a nearby house.

Hopton Primary Academy closed on Wednesday morning when a 45-year-old barricaded himself in a house on Coast Road, Hopton-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth.

He was arrested on Thursday and later charged with communicating false information in relation to an alleged bomb hoax, making threats to damage property and wasting police time.

The school, which remained closed for the rest of the week, said it would reopen on Monday and thanked children, families and staff "for their patience, understanding and unwavering support over the past few days".

Pupils had been walked by staff to Potters Resort holiday park on Wednesday, where they were kept safe until parents were able to collect them.

Managing director Mike Scott said they treated the children, some of whom have family working at the resort, to an impromptu Christmas party.

"We booted up the Christmas music and lights because we were aware the children were going to be worried about what was going on.

"We went to the shop [on site] and got 200 bags of crisps and gave them to the children as they were in the middle of their lunch when they were evacuated.

"We gave them drinks and food and put on some music and just tried to get them to relax while their parents were contacted.

"They were happy - they certainly made a lot of noise and they were singing along to the tunes.

"The children were very keen to see mum and dad - it was nice for them to connect, and off they went."

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