A college went into lockdown amid a police incident in a town centre.

Senior staff at Ashford College in Station Road told their students to stay inside the building at about 1.40pm.

Parents were being contacted by their children, saying they were being kept in their classrooms.

Shoppers noted a heavy police presence in the high street, Bank Street and Elwick Road, all centred around the County Square Shopping Centre.

Ashford College's principal Victoria Copp-Crawley confirmed a brief lockdown had been in place.

She said: “The college was advised to ensure it was secured after reports of an incident in the town centre.

"Our students’ safety and wellbeing is always our primary concern, so we took steps to ensure they remained safeguarded for about 10 minutes until we were told the incident had been dealt with.”

A police spokeswoman confirmed officers were called to the town centre just after 1pm.

"We received a report of a possible disturbance taking place in County Square at 1.15pm," she said.

"Officers attended the area and, following inquiries, established that no disturbance had taken place."

Read more: All the latest news from Ashford