Children’s chase game sparks off 999 alert (From Romsey Advertiser)

Children’s chase game sparks off 999 alert

10:40am Friday 31st August 2012 in News

ARMED police were deployed after they were told a person was walking the streets with a baseball bat in Romsey.

However, they were stood down when officers realised it was just children playing a game of chase.

Police said they had been called at just after 8pm on Tuesday to reports that a six foot youth who “looked unhappy” and had his hoodie up was walking along Latham Road brandishing a bat.

The informant had told them they heard children screaming and running down the road, which had made them concerned.

A dog unit and armed response unit, with the capacity to use firearms, were both deployed, but were stood down when the first officers on the scene told them it was children playing a noisy game.

Julie Burman, 48, of Mountbatten Avenue, whose daughter Jodie, 10, was one of those playing, said the group of youngsters, aged nine to 16, had been playing rounders in a field close to Mountbatten Avenue then switched to playing a chase.

She said it was harmless fun and that she felt police had completely over-reacted to the situation and had left her child traumatised and upset.

A Hampshire Police spokeswoman said police could only go on the information that was reported to them and there was a possibility of a dangerous situation.

“Clearly when the officers checked there they determined it wasn’t “We always have to consider that it could be as reported.

“From the initial report there was a possibility that a youth was chasing children with a baseball bat.”