Police have issued a major update after a manhunt for an asylum seeker who was allegedly seen interfering with parked vehicles elsewhere in Essex on Thursday. While local schools were put on lockdown measures, Essex Police denied that there had been any “offences, threats or issues relating to school property” but confirmed that a man had been arrested on suspicion of “vehicle interference” and was also seen looking through bins on a Loughton School field on Wednesday.
Leverton Primary School in Waltham Abbey confirmed to the Express that it had entered lockdown measures at around midday on Thursday. A spokesperson for the force said: “We’ve made an arrest after reports of a man trying doors in Waltham Abbey. [He is] in custody on suspicion of vehicle interference. One report [was made] of him on a Loughton school field on September 17 looking in bins. No other school-related incidents [have been] reported, despite inaccurate claims.”
A man who police confirmed was an asylum seeker who “sleeps rough outside of Essex” was arrested on Wednesday morning after allegedly breaking into a school near Epping on the same day.
Police were called to Davenant School and arrested a man who had failed to attend court.
The force said he had no relation to The Bell Hotel, migrant accommodation that has become the centre of furious protesters against the housing of asylum seekers this summer.
In a statement issued earlier on Thursday, the force said: “Residents will have noticed an increased policing presence in the area. This is because we have received reports of a man sleeping rough and interfering with parked vehicles in Waltham Abbey, and officers have been deployed to find this person.”
They continued: “Officers have been in consistent contact with schools throughout Thursday, September 18, to offer reassurance.
“It is important to repeat that no threat or suggestion of harm, either physical or otherwise, has been reported against any members of the public, or members of any school communities in Waltham Abbey in relation to this suspect.”