College placed on lockdown and students urged to 'stay away from windows' following gun threat on social media
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A college has been placed on lockdown and students have been told to stay away from windows after gun threats were made on social media.
Threats were made against two colleges in Greater Manchester on Twitter this morning and one - Tameside College in Ashton-under-Lyne - carried out an evacuation.
The 2,000-student college has been evacuated and Greater Manchester Police is at the scene as the credibility of the threat is established.
Meanwhile, Bury College - around 15 miles away - has tightened security at its campus after deciding a full-scale lockdown was not necessary.
The Manchester Evening News reports an unknown social media made the threats while posting a message welcoming students back to college today after the Easter break
One Tameside College student who was evacuated described how the lights were turned off and blinds pulled down in her classroom as music was played to soothe students.
She said: "My tutor was called out of the classroom and was gone for quite a while. Nobody was allowed to leave the room or the building.
"We had to turn the lights off and put the blinds down. They played music to calm us."
One parent outside the campus said: "My daughter said the students have been told to stay away from the windows."
A Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said: "At around 10.30am on Tuesday 18 April 2017, police were called to reports of a threat made against a college in Tameside.
"At 11.30am on Tuesday 18 April 2017 police were called to reports of a threat made against a college in Bury.
"Enquiries into both are ongoing."
A statement on the Tameside College website said: "This morning we received notification of a threat to Tameside College which we are action on.
"We are in consultation with Greater Manchester Police and have implemented a lockdown of the college.
"All students and staff are safe."
A Bury College spokeswoman said: "After consultation with police we have tightened security at the site but remain open as normal."