A SCHOOL was placed in lockdown yesterday after a suspected burglar, who had left a trail of damage following a police chase, attempted to hide from police inside the grounds.

The man was arrested after ditching his car in Amesbury following a cross-border police chase which started near Basingstoke.

Wiltshire officers were called at 11.10am to help catch the driver who had given their colleagues in Hampshire the slip.

The police helicopter was used to track the driver of a red Peugeot as he sped through Salisbury and Amesbury, where he hit a number of parked cars in Salisbury Road.

Stonehenge School was placed into a 15 minute lockdown after the 33-year-old abandoned his car on a footpath between The Drove and Holders Road.

The school posted a statement on their website saying they were alerted by Wiltshire Police at around midday.

"All pupils were assembled indoors either in their own teaching room, or were directed into the nearest available supervised classroom," they said. "This followed an alert from Wiltshire Police that they were in pursuit of a man suspected of a number of serious road traffic offences.  "He had abandoned a car in The Drove and possibly sought to hide somewhere on school premises.  "A police helicopter team and police dogs apprehended the man after a short search of the school grounds and surrounding neighbourhood. Shortly afterwards pupils returned to lessons."

The man was caught on nearby wasteland and arrested on suspicion of burglary, aggravated joy-riding, drug-driving, and dangerous driving.