Police probe as pupil taken to hospital after taking an unknown substance at a South Shields school

The alert was raised just after 3pm on Thursday after a pupil fell unwell within the grounds of St Wilfrid’s RC College in Temple Park Road, South Shields.

An ambulance was sent out and the pupil was taken to South Tyneside District Hospital.

Northumbria Police said its officers were alerted later that night to the incident, at around 8.15pm.

As yet, the details of the substance and the condition of the pupil are unknown.

An investigation has now been launched by the school as well as police.

One concerned parent said: “I was told one of the pupils had been taken to hospital and I was shocked.

“You just can’t believe something like this would happen on school grounds.”

A spokesman for North East Ambulance Service said: “We were called to St Wilfrid’s College at 3.06pm following reports of a person unwell. We dispatched a double crewed ambulance and one patient was taken to South Tyneside Hospital.”

A spokesman for Northumbria Police said: “At around 8.15pm on Thursday, police received a report for a concern for pupil at St Wilfrids College in South Shields, after a pupil was taken to hospital after taking an unknown substance.

“Inquiries are ongoing at this time to establish the circumstances of the incident.”

A spokesman for St Wilfrid’s RC College said: “The safety and welfare of our students is of the highest importance to us.

“We thoroughly investigate any incidents within school but to safeguard children we will not comment on individual students.”