NATIONAL: Warning after wolf escapes from wildlife sanctuary near school

Police were called at 8am today with reports from a member of the public that the animal had escaped from the UK Wolf Conservation Trust in Reading.

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: ‘Officers have sight of the wolf and are working with staff from the sanctuary to detain it.

‘Do not approach the wolf if you see it.’

The sanctuary in Picklepythe Lane, Beenham, declined to comment.

Sian Champkin, whose husband works at Elstree Independent Boys Preparatory School in nearby Woolhampton, said the pupils have been told not to go outside.

Speaking to the Press Association, the 37-year-old said: ‘He phoned me to tell me about it because we have a child, a dog and a cat and not to go outside.

‘The sanctuary is about a mile away as the crow flies.

‘I was slightly shocked, nothing like this has ever happened before.’

The school refused to comment.