It was a close encounter, of a kind, at one primary school last week, where aliens were reported to have landed.

Pupils filing out of lessons last Thursday saw police guarding a cordoned off area of the playground.

As they approached they saw luminous green footprints and asked police officers, who were taking evidence, what happened.

Pointing to another pair of footprints on the playground wall the officers told the children they were investigating reports aliens had landed and escaped.

Jackey Wilson, deputy headteacher, said the event was part of a project trying to inspire children to get involved in creative writing and were asked to write how the aliens should adapt to human life.

She said: “They children really enjoyed it. A lot of them claimed they heard a noise around the time they landed and some said they saw what happened.”