A secondary school has denied claims that intruders were jumping over its walls “in balaclavas with knives”.

Durrington High School in The Boulevard, Worthing, addressed “some worrying posts on social media” last night following claims of an incident at the school during the day.

The school said it would have gone into “full lockdown procedures and the police would have been called” if an incident such as this had taken place.

One parent described how his child witnessed a “ridiculous day” at the school.

He said: “My child said last night there were fights, the isolation block was full. He never mentioned balaclavas or knives.”

Sussex Police confirmed it was an internal matter dealt with by the school and there were “no knives or intruders”. The force also did not attend the school.

Durrington High School told The Argus the claims were “ridiculous” and “complete nonsense”.

Co-headteacher Chris Woodcock urged parents and pupils to be more careful about reporting “falsehoods” on social media and to go to the school directly instead with any concerns.

The Argus: Durrington High School Durrington High School (Image: Google Maps)

The school denied there were any fights or students sent to isolation.

The post last night read: “We wanted to write to you regarding some worrying posts on social media yesterday that have been brought to our attention. These involve accounts of people from outside the school jumping over the walls of the school, in balaclavas with knives, threatening our students resulting in the police having to be called.

“We would like to reassure you that this did not happen and there was no breach of school security, nor was there any threat of this.

“If such a serious incident had occurred, we would have gone into full lockdown procedures and the police would have been called. We would also have kept parents and carers fully informed as is our school policy. The safety and well-being of our students is always of paramount importance to us. We have invested significantly to ensure that the school site is safe and secure at all times.

“As always, should you have any concerns we would always urge you to contact us directly, rather than posting on social media.

“While social media can be a great way to communicate and share information, false accounts like this can cause unnecessary harm and distress. Like us, the police are concerned about the false nature of these posts.

“Thank you so much for your ongoing support.”

Last month, 11 schools, including Durrington High School, wrote to parents and carers to address “ongoing reports of violence and antisocial behaviour”.

The 11 schools are working with Sussex Police to tackle youth violence in the Worthing, Littlehampton and Shoreham areas.

The letter last month urged people to report any criminal behaviour to police that children may receive on social media.

It comes as The Argus reported on a spate of youth crime in town centres, with children known to use the Worthing to Hove railway line and shoplift from nearby businesses.