Police descended on a college after a parent arrived brandishing an axe.

West Kent College in Tonbridge went in to lock down on Tuesday amid reports a man was branding the wood chopping tool in a car park.

Kate Spencer, 22, from West Malling, is a student at the University of Greenwich who occasionally has classes at the college campus.

She said: "We were all told to stay in classrooms due to a man with an axe outside the front of the college.

"We were put in lockdown for about half an hour from around 9.30am and an email was sent to parents as obviously some of the students are quite young and there was a safeguarding protocol that needed to be put in place.

"Nobody really knew what was going on.

"I know a lot of parents were upset and a few people were quite panicked but generally it was quite calm in a bizarre way - I guess it shows that British spirit.

"The college was really good at responding to any trauma and handled the whole situation very quickly."

It is thought the man involved was a parent of a student at the college.

He did not make it inside the college, which has more than 4,500 students, but later handed himself in to a police station.

A Kent Police spokesman said: "We were called to reports of a disturbance in a car park at West Kent College, Tonbridge. It is alleged a man got out of a vehicle and threatened a person with a weapon, described as resembling a small hand axe.

"Officers attended and at around 11.10am a 31-year-old man presented himself to a police station. He was arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon and later bailed, pending further enquiries, until December 20."

A spokesman for the college said: "Yesterday morning, an incident took place at West Kent College which resulted in the police being called to the site.

"The incident was managed in accordance with the college procedures by the college staff with the support of the police and no one was injured. The matter is now being handled by the police.

"As a college, we take our responsibilities on safeguarding very seriously and regularly make students aware of the ways they can remain safe, both at college and in the wider community."

Read more: All the latest news from Tonbridge