Woman arrested over University security alerts

A woman has been arrested following a spate of security alerts at the University of Kent’s Canterbury campus.

The woman, who has been named as Vanessa Relton, is 40 years-old and lives in Whitstable. She has been charged with making a number of hoax calls to the University over the last few days. Relton is also suspected of leaving suspicious packages at the Canterbury campus.

On 1 and 2 December, the Templeman Library was evacuated following the discovery of a mysterious package on 1 December, and a hoax call on 2 December. Kent Police attended the scene on both occasions, and both the library and nearby buildings were evacuated while the premises were searched.

Relton is also connected to an evacuation on 23 September, again from the Templeman Library due to a bomb scare.

It is not yet clear whether Relton is also connected with the evacuation of Essentials on the Canterbury campus on 2 December, or the evacuation of the Drill Hall Library and surrounding buildings at the Medway campus.