Pupils were shot at while on their lunch break by a sniper firing a BB gun into their school from a farmer's field.

Two schoolgirls were hit by the pellets, as staff moved quickly to evacuate children from the playing field area at Harleston Sancroft Academy.

Witnesses said there were two young people - not thought to be pupils at the school - seen standing in the field when the weapon was fired.

Police were called and carried out a search of the area, following the incident at around 1.45pm on Wednesday. They later arrested a teenager at his home in the town.

Two pupils of Harleston Sandcroft Academy were shot by a member of the public with a BB gun Two pupils of Harleston Sandcroft Academy were shot by a member of the public with a BB gun (Image: Submitted)

The school has sent a letter to parents to reassure them.

It said that "several" pellets had been fired into the school grounds and that "two young people sustained bruising to their arms, legs and back".

The letter, signed by the headteacher Rob Connelly, went on: "Understandably this is a very upsetting incident.

"The safety, welfare and wellbeing of all members of the school community is our number one priority and if there are any students who have been impacted by what has happened please ask them to seek a member of staff when they arrive at school."

The two girls suffered minor injuries in the attackThe two girls suffered minor injuries in the attack (Image: Submitted)

One neighbour, whose garden backs onto the field, said he had heard screams from children and later saw police search the area.

"It is not unusual to hear children being noisy at lunch when they are playing football or messing about so when I heard screams I didn't think anything of it," he said.

"About 10 minutes later police officers were looking about and knocking on doors, speaking with people, trying to find the suspect. It was the police who told me what had happened."

Another woman, who lives on nearby Wilderness Lane, said: "This is shocking news for a town like Harleston and what worries me the most is that my daughter starts at that school in September.

"I am worried sick about sending her there."

A 76-year-old man, who has lived in the town his whole life, said: "It doesn't surprise me that there has been some imbecile do something so extraordinarily stupid.

"I really hope the police, the court, throw the book at him because this simply cannot happen."