A TEENAGE girl pulled out a knife at school.

A Year 10 student was left frightened and threatened when the pocket knife was pulled out in the middle of the day at Peacehaven Community School.

The Argus understands the incident happened after there had been a disagreement between two girls earlier in the day.

Police are now aware of the incident which happened on Thursday.

The school’s headteacher Rachel Joseph has responded to the incident.

She said: “At Peacehaven Community School we have a robust behaviour policy and this is well understood by pupils.

“Clearly there are no circumstances in which it is acceptable or appropriate for a knife to be brought into school.

“A student brought a pocket penknife into school and this was taken out during the course of the school day and no one was hurt.

“It was confiscated and action is being taken in line with our behaviour policy.

“We have also reported the matter to the police.”

A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said they had been informed of the incident.

They said: “Officers will work with the school to establish what happened.

“It is understood no one was hurt.”

The incident comes after a sharp rise in knife crime nationally.

Nearly 5,000 people were admitted to hospital with wounds after a knife attack in 2018 – a 15 per cent increase compared with the previous year.

Across the UK, 285 people were killed using a knife.

The most common victims, by a large percentage, are youths aged 19 and under.

Campaigners have blamed “crippling police cuts” and school exclusions for the increase in knife crime.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid has met police chiefs amid warnings of a “national emergency” of knife crime.

This comes after senior police officers in Britain clashed with Theresa May over her claim there was no direct link with cuts in police numbers and the rise of knife attacks.

Police chiefs have also laid the blame at a “broken” school exclusion system.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, they called for an end to unofficial exclusions called “off-rolling”.

The practice of off-rolling sees students taken off the school register by issuing informal exclusions.

These exclusions mean the pupils are forgotten and “let down”, police chiefs say.

Despite the bleak national picture, knife crime in Sussex has fallen.

In 2018, there were 305 knife offences, 12 per cent less than in 2011.