"...all policies and procedures were completely followed..."

The letter, a copy of which was shown to the Echo, read: “Dear parents/carers, there was an incident at lunchtime today in which the police were called to the site.

“This was an innocent event and at no point were any children at risk.

“The safety of the school site was not compromised at any moment, and all policies and procedures were completely followed.

“Please help us to help your child by reassuring them that there was no risk at anytime.”

No risk of....errrr, what, exactly?

A police spokesman confirmed they had been called to the school.

They added: “Police received report of a man acting suspiciously in Point Road, Canvey, at about 12.30pm on Thursday, October 12.

“Officers attended the scene and spoke to the man.

“Following further investigation, police established that no offence had been committed.”

How was he 'acting suspiciously'? Well, maybe we'll never know.

One mum, who asked not to be identified, said: “The parents are furious at the way the school handled it. There was queues of people trying to get information on the ‘incident’ and the teachers were just categorically refusing to give any information out. When I asked if it was a legal reason, they said yes. But clearly if the police have told the Echo what happened, there’s no reason they couldn’t have told us.

“When you are given just enough information to make you worry, your mind runs away.

“It was just handled appallingly. God knows how you’re meant to reassure a child of their safety if you don’t know what about!”

Quite! But so long as 'all policies and procedures were completely followed', that's the main thing. Right?