CONCERNED parents have been left frustrated, claiming they feel a school covered up a six-year-old child bringing a knife to the playground.

In what the school has described as an "isolated incident", the young boy brought the knife to Westborough Primary School, in McDonald Avenue, Southend, and showed the knife to a fellow student.

But concerned parents have demanded answers after they claim the incident was "swept under the carpet".

One mother, who was made aware by another worried parent on the playground, said she feels everyone should have been made aware.

The woman, who has asked to remain anonymous, said: "It's absolutely shocking that a six-year-old is bringing a knife to school.

"I was horrified. My initial reaction was one of anger and fear for my child because you do worry about your children going there and you don't expect a six-year-old to bring a knife to school.

"I understand there is scaremongering but with an incident as serious as this, I do think all parents should have been made aware so that we could decide what measures to put in place for our children. It feels like it was swept under the carpet.

"I just hope the school would deal with something like this robustly to make sure it doesn't happen again."

The school has confirmed the pupil is no longer attending Westborough Primary School. They added that the knife was not used to threaten anyone and that the incident, which happened in September, was dealt with immediately.

Headteacher Tonya Brook said: "This was an isolated incident where a six-year-old brought a small paring knife into school in his book bag.

"He showed it to another child. It did not come out of the bag. A member of Senior Management was on the playground to deal with the issue immediately.

"The child was subsequently removed from the school.

"All relevant parties were informed. "