A WOMAN carrying a walking stick has sparked a major emergency response by police.

Officers were scrambled to the Fenham area of Newcastle and a nearby girls’ school went into lockdown after police received a 999 call reporting a woman carrying a firearm in the street just after noon on Tuesday.

Pupils at the Sacred Heart Catholic High School were kept inside as police carried out an extensive search of the area.

However, police confirmed that what the caller thought was a gun was, in fact, a folded walking stick.

Central Area Command Chief Inspector John Heckels said: "The caller did absolutely the right thing, they were concerned about what they had seen and believed it to be a firearm and reported it to police.

“Thankfully, this has turned out not to be the case and it was in fact a walking stick”.

He added: "We know this incident has caused some concern to the local community and I'd like to thank them for their co-operation while we carried out our enquiries into this incident and hope they feel reassured this was a call made in good faith."