A councillor and former teacher has given his backing to the principal of an Almondbury school which went into lockdown on Tuesday.

Clr Bernard McGuin spoke out after King James’s School in Almondbury was placed in lockdown for an hour as police scoured the grounds to locate a shooter who fired an air weapon at an administration block.

Principal Ian Rimmer told parents of the 900 pupils that none of them were in any danger and said a pellet had been fired from the road at an upstairs window.

Teachers switched off lights, locked doors and instructed pupils to get under their desks before the school sent a text message to parents to say the building was on lockdown.

A text told parents that children were safe and not to contact school however many worried parents turned up at the gates, concerned at the lack of information.

Clr McGuin, who represents Almondbury for the Conservatives and is a former teacher himself, backed Mr Rimmer’s handling of the incident after some parents criticised what they claimed was poor communication.

He said: “I would like to send my support to the principal, Ian Rimmer, as well as all the staff and the children at King James’s School.

“The school acted in the appropriate manner throughout the incident. I have received no complaints from any parents of children at the school.

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“The important thing to remember here is that the school acted to keep the children safe at all times.

“The school kept the parents informed, via text, and attempted to reassure the parents of the children’s safety.

“We live in times when you can be damned for over-reacting and damned for not acting at all.

“I am content that the school has the procedures in place to deal with incidents like this in the future.

“The important thing to remember is that no one was hurt at King James’s and the actions taken by the school were in the best interests of everyone concerned.”

A spokeswoman for West Yorkshire Police said “enquiries remain ongoing” into the incident.

The incident inevitably left many parents anxious about their children’s safety.

Mr Rimmer told the Examiner on Wednesday: “We are just hoping to get back to normal today.”