Adults damaged their old school during a last look round at special open evening

Police and the fire service had to be called to a school reunion in Suffolk. Hundreds of adults aged from 20 to 80 turned up for the open evening at the old Orwell High School in Felixstowe – staged because the building is set to be closed and demolished when a new academy opens next month.



But while the vast majority enjoyed looking around their old alma mater, seeing the memorabilia, and being reunited with long-lost friends from their school days, a small minority of the grown ups ruined the reunion night.

The group – in their 40s and 50s – deliberately and repeatedly set off fire alarms, scrawled graffiti on walls and desks . . . and were caught smoking in the toilets. Lewd pictures were drawn on walls, and it is understood some of the current students’ work was damaged. Police and fire crews were called to the campus and the building had to be evacuated.



It meant the evening had to be cut short, too, as no-one could be allowed back inside because emergency fire systems had to be disabled while firefighters checked out the classrooms, corridors and workshops. A police spokeswoman said officers were initially called to the school at around 7pm on Monday night to deal with parking problems and then helped with the evacuation of the building after alarms were deliberately activated. Officers are currently investigating incidents of criminal damage.