A pupil at an infant school has been temporarily excluded after being found with a kitchen knife in his book bag.

The alarm was raised by a teaching assistant at Sherwin Knight Infant School, in Cedar Road, Strood.

Staff at the site immediately took the blade from the boy, who had taken it to class without his parents knowing.

"We take any breach in behaviour seriously and have reviewed our procedures as a result of what happened..." - head teacher Jacquie Keelan

Kent Police were made aware along with Medway Council, which said no child was threatened.

Executive head teacher Jacquie Keelan said: "We take any breach in behaviour seriously and have reviewed our procedures as a result of what happened.

"This is normal procedure in incidents such as this, ensuring the swiftest and most appropriate action is taken.

"While we rightly dealt with this as soon as it came to our attention, it is worth bearing in mind we are talking about a small child here who did not comprehend the seriousness of his actions or the potential consequences of them."

She also wrote to all parents about the discovery on Wednesday.