EARLS High School in Halesowen has been evacuated after receiving a bomb hoax threat this morning.

The school were called at 10.30am and children were sent out of classes as a precaution.

West Midlands Police superintendent Phil Dolby said: “We are investigating after a bomb threat was called through to a school in Dudley this morning.

Earls High School received the call at around 10.30am. Pupils have been moved out of the main buildings but remain at the school at this time and officers are currently at the scene.

“At this early stage police believe the report to be false and malicious."

The school was one of several in the Black Country which received a spate of hoaxes earlier in the year.

Councillor Ian Cooper, Dudley Council cabinet member for children's services, said: “We haven’t been contacted by Earl’s High School but, following a review of procedures after the last spate of school bomb hoaxes, we shared revised arrangements at that time with all schools, both those maintained by the council and academies, to ensure swift action and communication once a hoax or evacuation is confirmed.”