A man gained access to a school site and approached children as they were arriving this morning.
It has been described as a "distressing incident" by the headteacher of The Priory Parish C.E. Primary School on Aberdeen Street, Birkenhead, Wirral.
Staff at the school managed to stop the man and call police who escorted him away from the gates .
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In a letter to parents seen by the ECHO, headteacher Greg Edwards said: "Many of you will be aware that we had an incident at school this morning as parents and children were arriving to school.
"Someone who was not known to the school, got access to the site but was stopped by staff and left.
"Police attended quickly and the person was apprehended by police outside the school gates.
"This sort of incident is distressing for anyone who witnessed it, staff, children and parents.
"We spent time reassuring the children this morning that they are safe. They have played out as normal and seem happy.
"You will all know that poor mental health can lead to such incidents in the community and we hope that the individual is getting the help he needs.
"Such an incident is fortunately very rare but we will, in light of what happened, be reviewing all our safety and security procedures to ensure that we do all we can to prevent anything like this happening again.
"Thanks to all those parents who expressed their concern this morning; everyone is safe and well.
"May I also express my thanks to those parents who recognised the situation as it developed and stepped in to help.
"From my initial discussions with some of you it is becoming clear that this man had approached several families in the vicinity from around 8.30am. We keep our community safe when we work together."
A spokeswoman for Merseyside Police said: "We have arrested a man in Birkenhead after officers received a report of a concern for safety of children at Priory Parish Church of England primary school.
"At around 8.45am today (Monday 22 November) officers were called to reports of a man making indecent comments to pupils at the school.
"A man was arrested on suspicion of breaking of the peace and drug offences.
"Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact @MerPolCC on Twitter or ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’ on Facebook with log 0152 of 22/11/21.
"You can also pass information via Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or their online form at Give information | Crimestoppers (crimestoppers-uk.org)"
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